A Seal of Time
by MirrorCard
Summary: The Clow cards are left at half power, vulnerable to re-capture for someone else because of a mysterious boy whose ancestor was denied the cards by clow reed. NEWEST: Sakura can sence danger lurking towards her. But how can she tell everyone else before
1. A Different Destiny

The reforming

Author's note: This takes place after the capture of the Earthy card, but before it is signed. The names are not in Japanese (sorry), but I hope that won't take the fun out of it.

****

A Different Destiny

"Kero" cried Sakura, "You can't be in your true form out here."

"No one's around." He replied. "I can't wait for all the yummy treats. Cotton candy, hot dogs, corn dogs…….." He began to start drifting off in his mind and drooling.

"YUCK!" cried Sakura as a splash of sticky and clammy feeling water dripped onto her.

"O, sorry about that." He mumbled and went back to his dream.

"You've got to convert back, Kero. We are almost at the festival." Sakura continued, "KERO, ARE YOU LISTENING!"

"I hear you. But I still think you should have signed the Earth card. Why are you waiting? Please let's go back………Please"

"No!" Sakura was tired of the subject by now. She wanted to go to the festival first before this test that would make or destroy her destiny. "I have the Wood card on it to guard the Earth, along with every other card."

"Come on Sakura" A voice spoke from behind a tree. Sakura jumped almost two feet into the air in the thought of a ghost and landing on the ground, Kero became fully alert eyeing the tree knowing what was behind it. Then Li slowly appeared from the shadows.

"You don't know what the Earth is capable of. Trust me this time." He just blurted out immediately. 

At the fair, Madison was waiting with Tori and Julian for Sakura. "Shouldn't she have been here by now." Julian asked Tori.

"Just like her to be late." Tori said. "Right when you think she'll be on time, she proves you wrong."

"I'll go back to see if she's at your house tori, ok?" Madison asked.

Tori nodded but added, "If you see her, tell her she's doing the chores on Sunday."

As this happened, a figure in shadows crept into Sakura's room. Seeing the Clowbook on the table, it advanced forth. "I'm not too late" it spoke, You should have signed the Earth while you had the chance. You should have listened to that guardian of yours. It won't be able to protect you anymore" It said, "Your mistake will cost you." It giggled.

"With all my power thrust in hand

Summoned from across the land

To form a time when Clow is untamed

And the forces of the seal shall share their power

COPY THE SEAL!

The figure fell to the floor in a loss of strength as the room fell into darkness and the Clowbook seemed to start to vanish, but a second copy began to appear next to it. Then after a minute, both books turned back to a solid form. "I've done it!" It shouted taking the duplicate copy and vanishing into the air.

Li and Sakura were flying back to Sakura's house on Kero's back. "Faster" Li commanded. 

"How'd you like to walk" Kero retorted. "At least I won't be a stuffed animal when I lose too much energy." Li murmured. Sakura was saddened at her decision, but suddenly, Kero began to loose altitude. "Kero, what are you doing!"

Kero, in a dazed state, reverted back to his "plush toy" form, sending Sakura and Li plummeting towards the ground. Sakura screamed frantically in search of something to grab as Li calmly drew his sword. "Element: Wind!" He cried as a gust of wind filled the space between them and the ground, slowing their descent as they touched the ground. "Now the Earth has escaped again……" Li began but kero stopped him.

"The Earth is still in the book, but the cards seem to have lost most of their power." Kero corrected Li. Li, Sakura, and Kero raced to Sakura's house arriving a half and hour later and dashed up into her room to search out the book, but it lay undisturbed on the table she had left it. Kero opened the book and all cards were there. He didn't understand the mysterious power drain. "Quick Sakura, sign the Earthy" Li finally said breaking their silence. Sakura slowly wrote her name on it in fear of what was to happen. Li and Kero looked around, as if expecting to see something. Sakura glanced at them. "It must be because the cards are incomplete" kero murmured. "My cards still have full power." Li told them. "I wonder why his cards have full power and Sakura's don't. Maybe this is one of Yue's tests." Kero kept murmuring knowing that etherway, he'd have to actually rely on Li if the power was to be restored to the rest of the cards.

"Ok kid" Kero quickly spoke. "We need to go outside," Kero spoke as he left Sakura's room to the door with Li and Sakura trailing. "Alright, use The Time Card to rewind time about two hours before this"

"YOU'RE STILL CRAZY, AREN'T YOU!" Li replied immediately. "If we don't follow are footsteps exactly, we could ratically alter the future!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!" Kero replied as he chased Li who was running in circles attempting to get away from Kero's chomps.

"Now, Now." A soft voice spoke from the air. Li and Kero drastically looked around for the voice and Sakura froze. "Arguing is such child's play."

"GHOST!!!!!!" Sakura screamed as she leaped for the door.

"Lock Card, lend your powers to my key, grant me your powers, Release!" An image of the Lock shot towards the door. Sakura desperately pounding at the door to force it open.

"Clow's magic!" Li cried. "Source of light with ancient spin, send forth the magic power with in, force know my plight, release the light." He swiftly spoke as the ray of light shot forth to the air in front of them. Kero flue up to Sakura window and grabbed the Clowbook off Sakura's desk.

"Sakura" Kero said as he flue out of Sakura's bedroom window with the Clowbook in his paws. "Use the key"

"Key of Clow, power of magic, power of light, surrender the wand, the force ignite, RELEASE!!!!!! WINDY!"

Windy's spirit spun around the air that the laisin board was pointing to, seemingly tying itself around something. 

"WINDY!" The voice of the air roared as another Windy spirit broke Sakura's Windy from entangling it. Both Windy's combated each other in a stand off. "Sakura, an attack card!" ordered Kero.

"WATER!" Cried Sakura returning her Windy spirit and launching Water's. It rushed through the other Windy and raced toward a the entity of the air. The water flowed around it, giving away an image. It was a person, covered with a cloak, about average height for their age. It was holding a wand, almost identical to Sakura's except that the wing and beak tips were sharper. The figure fell to the ground and became visible. Kero gained enough power to succeed transforming and attacked with his fireballs. He trapped the person who was a boy about Li's age, in a fire tornado. "You're the one responsible for the power loss of the Clow cards!? Kero queried. "Yes, the boy answered. But I realized some cards were missing, I've comeback to taken them. "That's what you think" Li snobbishly told. "That's what I know." the boy replied.

The boy brought out an incantation card similar to Li's. "Electroshock!" he cried hitting the palm of his hand against the card releasing a bolt of lightning at an unexpecting Kero. "Kero! No!" Sakura screamed as Kero fell to the ground changing back.

"Shadow card! Entangle Li and take his cards! Shadow!" The boy said. Kero now in his little form finally knew what was going on. "Sakura, counter with light!"

"Light card! Release! The shadow card was struggling with Li as the bright light defeated it. The visible form lay on the ground, weak. "Sakura, seal it!" kero weakly ordered.

"Shadow, return to your power confined, Shadow!" she said, remembering the first time she caught the shadow card. The visible form went into the card and glided to Sakura. Sakura then put the cards on top of each other and they combined into one card. "You'll pay for that!" The boy said with rage. "Electroshock!" he roared. "Shield card, Release!" Sakura said trying to counter the shock, but the shield was loosing power rapidly.

"Sword card, lend your powers to my key, grant me your powers, Release!" the boy said happily as his wand transformed into a sword. As he dashed at toward the shield. Sakura froze and the boy sliced the shield and what power it had left.

"Shield, Return and unite your powers, Shield!" He said throwing up his shield card and tapping it with his wand. Sakura's shield slipped into his card. "Now for the rest of them" he said. 

"Enough!" Li said deciding to do something instead of watching. "Element, Lightning!" A bolt of lightning shot forth and struck the boy's leg. 

"Time for me to go" he said painfully, "Fly!" He commanded, adding "But don't worry, I'll be back". As the boy flue off, Li shot lightning bolts at him, but kept missing. 

"Kero, what's going on." Sakura asked.

"Well, Clow reed had rivals. He thought that the Clow cards should be used to protect the world and they should be kept from doing danger themselves. But another sorcerer thought that they should have been used to control the world and have China rule it. That was one of the reasons Clow Reed hid the book. The boy's name is Kuragari.

"But why not take the book, Kero?" asked Sakura. 

"Because the book opens with the key now that it is in someone's possession. So, he had to copy of the Clow, both sets of cards have only half their powers though, making it easier for the book to be opened without a key. It's a seal that touches many lives, and survives through time." Kero responded. Sakura and Li both listened to Kero's story as Madison came out from a bush.

"I'd love to tape these new adventures of you Sakura." she said in a calm voice. Sakura just fainted at the thought of more costumes. "And now we have another descendent to deal with." Kero added with a smirk.

Author's note: Kuragari, got the name from a friend, means darkness. Li hasn't shown any feeling for Sakura yet. But don't worry, I'll get to them. It'll come at one of those times where things don't look like they won't make it.


	2. Copycat

"Copycat" ****

"Copycat"

The woods were dark, nearly everything black, but the moon's glow still illuminated nearly everything. Still it wasn't very easy to see though. 

"Did you find anything Li?" Said Sakura as she, Madison, and Kero rejoined Li who had the lasin board with him. Sakura, wearing a costume of Madison's design. It was a pink colored nylon dress with white stockings and white and pink striped boots, along with a pink hair band that covered the back of her head. Madison was in a blue dress with black shoes and Li was wearing his green robes. Kero had on a tiny blue shirt.

"Kero, what will happen the that shirt if you were to transform?" Madison asked, finishing her conversation with Kero. Kero just looked at her with a smile.

"Nothing, if he's here, he's using the Shield card. But I'm sensing something else out there." Just then, a shadowy figure moved through the woods. It had blue robes, similar to Li's. Nobody saw though.

"What?" Sakura said thinking of a ghost at this time of the night.

"That kid has more stupidity than Li does, thinking he can steal from me and Sakura." Said Kero, very angry at the resent events. 

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRACK HIM DOWN WITHOUT ME!" yelled Li, taking some pot shots at Kero. 

"Cut it out, Li" Ordered Sakura, protecting Kero.

"Easily" Kero answered.

"Well, if the Shield card is active, can't you look for _it_?" Madison suggested. 

"There's no need for that," a calm, yet confident voice sounded. It was Kuragari.

"It's time to put you in your place!" Li blurted out and pulled out the Time card. "Freeze the moment of time!"

"Too easy" kuragari said as the Time began to take effect. "Mirror card! Lend your powers to my key, grant me your powers, release!" 

The power of the Time card partly reflected back on Li, Madison, Kero, and Sakura. Madison froze instantly while Sakura, Kero and Li slowed down. Kuragari also slowed because the Mirror didn't have enough power to reflect all of Time's power. Li, weakened greatly though and froze after a minute. But the Time still kept drawing power from him.

"WWWiiinnndddyyy!!! gggaaattthhheeerrr aaallllll ooofff LLLiii'''sss cccaaarrrddds!!!" (Windy! Gather all of Li's cards!) Kuragari slowly blurted out.

"SSSaaakkkuuurrraaa!!!!!" (Sakura!) Kero slowly exclaimed. "TTTrrryyy ttthhheee LLLooooooppp cccaaarrrddd!!! (Try the Loop card!) LLLooooooppp cccaaarrrddd, rrreeellleeeaaassseee aaannnddd dddiiissspppeeellllll! (Loop card, release and dispel) The loop card reverted Kuragari's Windy from Li and into a circle with Kuragari at the other end. His Windy attacked him and he lost his control. Suddenly, time went back to normal. Li passed out from his energy drain and Madison, realizing she missed something, still continued to tape.

"Windy!, Return and unite your powers!" Sakura said throwing up her Windy card and tapping it with her staff. Kuragari's Windy glided into Sakura's Windy card and landed in her hand. Sakura ran to Li ready to pull out another card to defend him.

"Clever girl," Kuragari thought to himself. "But it's time for a greater test, Maze card!"

"Not again," Sakura thought, remembering their first experience with the maze card. The woods around them revolved around them and converted into the walls of the Maze card. But the Maze card didn't have enough power to transform everything. Instead holes in the walls were blocked by trees or branches, but were still easy to pass through.

"Through card!" Lend your powers to my key, grant me your powers, release!" Kuragari said from outside the maze. He slowly began to pass through the outer walls of the maze, without the maze card fighting back because of it's dwindling power. But he found a problem with his plan though, when the Through card began to loss power. Traveling through only ten walls, he realized that he'd merge with the wall and kill himself if he didn't stop for right now.

"If I can't go to them, they'll come to me. Time to borrow a trick from your book, Sakura," he said to himself. "Loop card! Connect the exit to my position!" Kuragari knew that naturally, they'd look for the exit, and when they found it, they'd turn back into the maze and to his position. The maze began to shift. Walls merged, divided, or were just demolished. Sakura , Madison, Kero, and Li saw the changes. 

"We didn't even do anything" exclaimed Sakura, wondering why the maze changed.

"It must have been Kuragari doing" Li responded and the changed stopped. "He's trying to trick us to forget where we've been. Even with all these holes in the walls, it'll still be very hard to find the exit."

"There's got to be some card that can help us find the exit." Madison said with a sigh.

"The through card could help, but not for all of us for very long at half power." Sakura waited for Li's or Kero's reply. 

"Maybe if we copied the Through card," Kero said in a doubtful tone. "But it could work." Sakura through down the Through card.

"Twin card, copy the Through card and its power!" Li ordered and The Through card duplicated itself. There were now two Through cards as long as Li didn't recall the Twin.

"Through card! Through card! Release and dispel! Allow us movement through the walls!" Sakura spoke as the spirits incased them.

Dawn began to approach outside as the unknown shadowy figure observed the maze from the outside. Inside, Sakura, Kero, Madison, and Li traveled through walls after walls, seeing places that looked familiar, but really not. Finally, after 10 minutes of wandering, they uncovered the exit. Racing through it they discover that they are back in the maze, only in a different part.

"I would have made it in half your time." Kuragari said, returning his loop card.

"Sakura, counter attack" Li said in rage. "Storm card! Release!" cried Li.

"Thunder card! Release!" followed Sakura. The Thunder surged forth surrounding reflecting off the walls in an attempt to confuse Kuragari, while Storm forced him against the walls with heavy gales.

"Mirror card! Reflect the attacking forces!" Kuragari ordered. Storm hit first. Hurricane gale winds were scattered in all directions breaking down walls from all around them. Next lightning struck the mirror. Li was hit and blown over, while Sakura and Madison escaped with plasma burns on their clothes and Kero dodged them. Kuragari shot backward dropping the Mirror card. The maze collapsed.

"Mirror card!" return to your power confined!" the mirror that lay on the ground twisted upward onto the staff and into Sakura's hands. Kuragari began to regain consciousness.

"Maze card! Return to your power confined!" Sakura continued. The maze sealed quickly because of its loss of power but floated over to Li and landed in the palm of his hand.

"My turn" Kuragari announced. "Watery! Collect all of Li's cards!" Kuragari's Watery flowed around Li picking up everyone except the Maze; not knowing it had gone to him. 

"Water! Counter Kuragari Water's force." Sakura said releasing hers. Each struggled to regain the cards.

"Never thought I'd do this twice." Kuragari mumbled to himself announcing an incantation.

"With all my power thrust in hand

Summoned from across the land

To form a time when Clow is untamed

And the forces of the seal shall share their power

COPY THE SEAL!"

The set of cards they were fighting over were copied, each Water spirit bringing back a set. Kuragari suffered a headache and decided it was time to depart. Li regained consciousness seeing all his cards lying beside him, including the Maze, as Kuragari flue off.

"Shadow card, bind Kuragari." Sakura said. Shadow lurched forth now with full power. A half power light card wouldn't do enough. So Kuragari flue on, the shadow began to thin out but he knew that he couldn't out run it.

"Now I can use it," Kuragari said bring out his Light card. "Light card!" he said gliding to the ground. "dilute the shadow!" The spirit of the Light lit up the sky as the sun began to rise. They had been in the maze practically the intire night. Saturday morning had come. Shadow began to disappear and Sakura called it back, knowing that the battle was over. Kuragari flue off into the morning sky.

"I think this belong to you." Li said handing the Maze card to her.

"Li, you can take it, it went to you" Sakura responded.

"But you have its counterpart." Li replied taking her hand gently and giving it to her. Sakura watched him walk into the distance as Madison and Kero came up to her.

"Are you two alright." Sakura asked.

"The camera is ok and I got the almost the intire event on tape." Madison said wondering what she could do next. Sakura just collapsed in the thought.

"But there's one thing we are missing." Kero told them.

"What's that?" Madison said as Sakura rose to her feet.

"Breakfast!" Kero drooled as he flue on route to Sakura's house, followed by Sakura and Madison who now just wanted to sleep.

"Maybe they can take Kuragari." The shadowy figure said from the treetops. "But they don't see what I see." It said holding the prophecy ball.

Author's note: I kind of ran through this one. Don't you think they found the exit to the maze a little too quickly? Yes, I am I the U.S. Kind of makes me feel sorry because they don't air any new episodes. Also, I realized that I might need a disclaimer. You know how people are that someone stole something from a company. _Disclaimer:_ I do not own Cardcaptors, Card Captor Sakura, or any other of its series or products. What are mine are the plots, characters, and items that I have made up on my own within these stories. (ex. The prophecy ball)


	3. A Time of Before

A Time Of Before –Part I ****

A Time Of Before

"Nearly two weeks since Kuragari last bothered us." Li grumbled alertly to Sakura as they walked to school together. Sakura just eyed him. "Why doesn't he just show himself by now? What a coward." He continued. Sakura just watched him and stayed silent. She remembered their last time out capturing cards. Tori had given her a half-hour lecture about why not to sneak out a night and that he'd beat up "the brat" if he got close to Sakura. Tory had left the house early this morning with Julian because they were in charge of setting up the science classroom.

"So, I'm a coward now," said a voice from the treetops too silent for the two cardcaptors to hear. "We'll see who cowardice's after this"

"Sakura, Li, wait up!" Li jumped at the yell and Sakura's trance was broken. Madison came running up the hill. "I thought I lost you" she gasped, catching her breach at the same time. "I see Li's still jumpy" she continued. "What!" Li bursted out, realizing it was nothing and continued walking. 

"Ever since last week, Li's been nervous. It has been awhile since Kuragari showed his face." Sakura said.

Up over their school, a figure hid on the roof, with what appeared to be a lasin board, similar to Li's, but the colors were fainter. "He's here." It said, "but where?" Then he eyed the prophecy ball. "It's going to happen today." He said.

Li sat at his desk behind Sakura's desk. Sakura, Madison, Rita, Nikki, Chelsea and were hanging around a poster in the hall. They all gazed in wonderment while Zachary was making a fool of Li.

"So, are you ready for it?" Asked Zachary to Li.

"For what?" Li responded waiting for his "correct" statement.

"You were supposed to stay after to help me clean the class. Don't you remember me telling you?" Zachary said gladly. Li remembered when he felt Kuragari presence near the school yesterday and ignored everybody in an attempt to focus. Zachary was really talking about how they should do their Christmas shopping now, in November rather than wait till the last minute. But he knew Li wasn't listening.

"I _have_ to?" Li said nervously.

"See you after school." Zachary said cheerfully. Over at the wall where the poster was, the girls were now all talking about whom they'd bring.

"Maybe you should ask Li." Madison said giggling.

'What!" Sakura said in disbelief that Madison had said that, fortunately not loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Go on" Madison said and pushed her toward Li, who was reading for their book report.

"Yes." Li said looking up from his book feeling her presence. Madison sat her desk, obviously listening. Sakura couldn't believe what was going on.

"Is there something you would like?" Li said, reading his book. Madison laughed quietly at her desk.

"Well, Li." Sakura said with hesitation, thinking of what Madison had done. Li just continued reading.

"There's a dance on tonight, you might have seen the posters…." Sakura trailed off almost at a state of running. Li looked up from his book. Madison was just a laughing storm, trying to bite her lips.

"And Madison was wondering if you'd like to go.' Sakura blurted out. Li looked at her like she was crazy. Madison jumped out of her chair, not laughing anymore.

"Sakura." Madison said in shock. Sakura just stood there. Li was trying to digest what had just occurred.

"Li, she's just joking." Madison quickly recovered.

"Fine." Li said calmly.

"What?" Sakura replied, stunned by his answer.

"I'll go." Li repeated.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

At Sakura's house, Sakura was getting ready for the dance. She hadn't told Kero what had happened. Sakura was wearing a shiny, icy blue dress and glass see-through blue shoes. It was one of those Cinderella things.

"You look like you came out of that book, what's it called……," Kero said thinking.

"Cinderella?" Sakura guessed.

"That's it." Kero said. "With the glass shoes and all."

"Sakura!" The voice of Tori sounded. "Have you completed your homework?"

"And there's the grouchy step-_brother_." Sakura joked.

"Yes." Sakura responded. The doorbell rang. Tori answered it and it was Madison. She was in a light blue and white, silk dress, with high heels and was also carrying a bag. Sakura was still a little mad at her.

"It's a dance?" Tori asked Madison as Sakura came down the stairs.

"You dress like it's a ball." Tori finished.

"It was my mom's idea, but she wanted me to change when it ended, hence the bag." Madison said. Tori left to the other room. Kero, while no one was watching, flue into Madison's bag. He didn't want to be left with Tori and he wanted to be around all the snacks.

"The limo's in the shop, and my mom can't seem to get to spare another. There's this big party that they need them at." Madison said with indication that they'd have to walk. The walk was silent. Madison wondered is Sakura was mad at her. But then again, it was her who said _she_ wanted Li to come.

"I've got you now, now to wait for the other one." It was Kuragari, but he wasn't talking to Sakura. Madison and Sakura ran to the field where they saw Li, tied to a tree by a whip of some kind, in his battle costume. It looked as if Li was looking for Kuragari. 

"All dressed up this time? This isn't a tea party you know?" Kuragari joked.

"You wish." Sakura responded taking her key from her neck, but remembered she didn't bring and cards.

"You'll need these." Madison jumped seeing Kero craw out of her bag. He handed six cards to her-Windy, Watery, Jump, Fly, Shadow, and Power.

"Good, the stuffed rodent's here too, but your too slow." Kuragari exclaimed, "My turn- Time Card! Return Card! Send us back to a time of before!" A vortex swirled from both cards. Everything turned to a blur. A feeling of suspension was in the air. After a couple minutes of not being able to move, they were back in the past. Sometime in spring it looked like. Kuragari fell to the ground in a loss of energy. Sakura and Madison looked around. Li was no longer tied to a tree.

"I'm no stuffed rodent!" Roared Kero, but Kuragari was on the move with Fly.

"Get back here!" Kero commanded going after him.

"Kero! No!" said Sakura grabbing him. She heard voices from the other side of the shrubs.

"Tori, I was not." Said a filumular voice.

"Well, I know thrashing when I hear it. Right from where your room is." Said another filumular voice.

"Is he still bothering you Sakura?" Said a voice that Sakura could never forget.

"That's Julian, Sakura said.

"And the other two people are your brother and……" Li drifted off peering through the bushes. 'You." The voices on the other side trailed off.

"I remember that conversation now." Sakura said. "We were going to school."

"But what day?" Li wondered aloud. "What's the importance of this date?"

"Well, I'm going to change out of this dress." Madison said, totally changing the subject.

"And you all are supposed to be in school." Added Kero, "So I'll look around and try to find the date." They all went to hide in the woods while Kero headed in the direction of Sakura's house. Kero was furious. Not at their time travel, but what Kuragari had called him. Stuffed-the adjective he hated most if he was being talked about, and rodent.

"Call me a stuffed rodent. I'll show him." Kero vowed. At Sakura's house, Kero made it in through Sakura's bedroom's open window. It was dark except for what sunlight shined in. Not hearing any voices, he proceeded downstairs. It was all dark. Everyone was out. Strolling around, Kero heard a very faint strange noise rumbling from the basement and went to investigate. It sounded about every five minutes. Kero followed it to a dead-end created by bookshelves. Waiting for the noise again, he saw a glowing book. Floating to it he read the spine. It read: "The Clow". Kero quickly sped out to Sakura's location realizing what was going to happen.

Over in the woods, Li, Sakura, and Madison wondered about the incantation Kuragari used. Sakura and Madison were sitting by a tree while Li paced back and forth.

"A time of before." Li repeated. "A time of before what?" Li said aloud.

"You have those cards too Li," Madison reminded him. "Can't you use those to take us back?"

"Yes," Li said confidently. "But he'd have to be with us, and he'd probably use the shield card against us. We can't leave him in the past." Suddenly, Kero than came rushing through the trees and crashed into Li. They both tumbled to the ground. Sakura and Madison rose from their spots.

"You know you've got a head nobody could miss." Kero said exclaiming the reason for the crash. Li rubbed his head.

"You're so blind you'd bump into a large lamp!" Li comebacked.

"He's just joking Li." Sakura said trying to prevent a fight.

"No I'm…" Kero tried to speak but Sakura covered his mouth. Kero then, after Sakura removed her hand, explained to them what he saw and what it meant. 

"He can't do that!" Li said angrily.

"Yes he can, be he doesn't know where the book is yet, so we have to guard it." Kero replied.

"But we can't guard the book at my house, Not with Tori. He senses things that aren't right…" Sakura trailed.

"That's what he meant. A time of before the release. Well, if we can't play defense, well play offense." Li said pulling out the lasin board. It led them through shrubs. Down to the place the Mirror card had hurt Tori. Out of the woods, it brought them to down town. They sat on the outskirts. They couldn't walk without being noticed.

"There's got to be something we can do without disrupting the future." Madison said in a hopeless tone. Then, all of a sudden, the beam from the lasin board shot back. They all turned around and there was Kuragari.

"You want to battle me? I'll send you home crying. A home of your past that is…." Kuragari chuckled.

"Windy!" Sakura said sending a full power card at him.

"Electroshock!" Kuragari cried throwing the palm of his hand against the incantation card. The bolt traveled around Windy's spirit. Sparks seemed to flow through channels of wind. Windy stopped its attack, falling weak. Sakura recalled it.

"You give up too easily." Kuragari said pleasantly. "Fight card! Lend your powers to this wand. Grant me your powers! Release!" Kuragari came charging at Sakura, fists ready to strike. Li shoved Sakura into a tree and took three punches. "This isn't your fight." Kuragari said. "Electroshock!" Kuragari launched a bolt of lightning that through Li up against a tree. Sakura used the distraction as a chance.

"Power card! Lend your powers to my key. Release!" Power fused through Sakura, ready to reseal the Fight card. Kuragari charged at her again. Sakura tried to strike. She hit the ground. Kuragari moved behind her. Sakura swung around but hit a tree. Li was scared to do anything because he might have hit Sakura. Kuragari kept tricking Sakura with agility moves. Then, the lasin board seemed to go crazy in Li's hands. It shot beams of light to through the woods, like it couldn't decide where the thing was. Li finally realized why Kuragari came to them. But it was too late for Sakura. Kuragari tripped Sakura and she fell on her back.

"Power card!" Kuragari pronounced. "Return and unite your powers. Power card!" The power flue out of Sakura's body and into the card. Then went into Kuragari's hands.

"Sakura, it was a diversion!" Li shouted. Kero didn't understand what Li was talking about until he felt a great concentration of power approaching them.

"The book!" Kero shouted. Sakura shot up from the ground.

"Dash card!" Kuragari said hitting this wand against the card. He than took one look at them and raced off.

"Fly!" hurried Sakura. Madison got on and they flue after Kuragari. Li followed on foot with his Dash card. Sakura gained speed on Kuragari and he began to slow down. Sakura let down on the ground. Li sped past Kuragari.

'Freeze card!" Kuragari said releasing the Freeze. It rushed to Li.

"Shadow!" Sakura said. "Trap the Freeze." Shadow emerged, and fought with Shadow. It seemed to be entangling the Freeze but Shadow began to freeze, showing down. In the distance, Sakura saw Li and an approaching book coming towards Kuragari.

"Release the light, Lightning!" Li commanded. A streak of lightning shot the book out of the air. The Move card crashed to the ground.

"Freeze card, return" Kuragari ordered and the Freeze returned to its card form. Kuragari made a break for the book. Kero chased after him.

"Move card! Return to your power confined!" Sakura said. The move touched her wand, then floated to Li in its card form. Kuragari approached the book, with Kero not far behind. But then, the last thing they wanted to happen occurred. The book began to glow. A form began to emerge from the cover. A fully powered Keroberos woke up. Recognizing Kuragari, he fired fireballs at him. Kuragari disappeared into the woods. 

"O, no" Li said softly.

"What do you mean "O, no"." Sakura said. "We can get this Kero to send us back using the Time card."

"Who are you? And why do you possess the Clow cards? The Keroberos said in a deep voice.

"It's a complicated story, you see, we're from the future. Kero explained. "And unless you fall back asleep, the future will be destroyed." Keroberos didn't understand why. "You see, in about three days, a girl will wake you up, and you will be her guardian, me" Kero said. "You will teach her to use the Clow cards and enjoy wonderful things, like pudding and cake." Madison and Sakura fainted hearing him say that.

"But can't we get back to the future using the Time card in this book." Sakura suggested.

"No, you can't." Keroberos said. "Two cards, the Time and Return are loose. You must recapture them, and that is how you shall get home. I guess I'll be returning to sleep so I can figure out pudding is." Kero fainted knowing that he didn't know what pudding was back then. Keroberos merged with the cover of the book and returned to sleep.

"Move card! Send the Clow book back to where it belongs!" Li ordered. The Move engulfed The Clow and traveled through the woods.

"So, I guess we'll be going back to the clock tower to get the Time and Return." Madison said.

"Why the clock tower?" Li asked.

"Where other place would the Time card go?" Madison said proving her point. The Move card returned to Li, and they waited in the woods for night. They all rested on a tree trunk. By nightfall, they had all fallen to sleep. Sakura's head slipped off the tree trunk and into Li's lap. She found herself more comfortable. But she didn't know what she was lying on. Kero lay asleep on Sakura's back while Madison slept with her head on her bag. Kuragari didn't know what to do. He knew the cardcaptors were going to the clock tower to retrieve the two cards. He couldn't recall them. In their present, the shadowy figure that was atop the school stood where they all disappeared. Holding the prophecy ball, it spoke an incantation:

Through the past and futures of time

Allow sight through what shall lay

To look behind, into the past

And see the progress of the cardcaptors

A vision glared in the ball. He saw Kuragari headed for the clock tower and the cardcaptors snoozing by the tree. "How careless." It spoke. The time was approaching eleven o'clock and the dance would be over. Soon, Sakura's brother would be worried where they were.

Madison's watch began to beep. It was an alarm she had set. Madison rose and saw the three lying together.

"How cute." She said to herself. "How, who should I wake up first so they don't feel embarrassed?" Madison asked herself. She than took hold of Sakura's shoulders and pulled her up into a sitting position against the truck of the tree. Kero fell off Sakura's back and crashed on the ground. He woke up very angry. Sakura gradually woke up because of Madison's tugs. After Sakura woke, Madison woke up Li.

"I want to go back to bed." Sakura said sleepily.

"Come on, Sakura." Li said fully awake.

"At least you were woken up politely." Kero said looking at Madison.

"I'm sorry Kero, but I didn't see you." Madison replied. "Look, there's the clock tower." Madison said changing the subject.

"Fly!" Sakura said groggy. "Everyone on." She then added.

"I'll find my own way." Li said nervously.

"Ok" Replied Sakura. Sakura, Madison and Kero flue to the top of the tower. Li rapidly climbed the stairs. Kuragari was inside. He saw Sakura on her wand approaching the top of the tower. He also felt Li from beneath.

"It is time." Kuragari said very frustrated. Sakura flue in. Li crawled up the top of the stairs.

"Time card! Freeze the moment!" Kuragari commanded. Sakura, Madison, and Kero were in a direct line with Time's visible form and were about to freeze.

"Freeze card!" Li launched. The Freeze leaped over the Time card and turned to ice. Sakura, Madison, and Kero were released from Time's spell.

"Time card!" Sakura spoke quickly. "Return to your power confined." The ice broke up and Time was sucked into a card. It went over to Li.

"NO!" Kuragari said realizing his perfect pan was almost ruined. He pulled out an incantation paper. Sakura anticipated what it was.

"Shot card! Take down Kuragari" Sakura ordered.

"Electroshock!" Kuragari said angrily, launching it at the Shot. The shot returned to its visible form. "Shot card, return and unite your powers!" Kuragari said. While this was happening, Kuragari's Return card was on the run.

"Lightning!" Li said casing after the Return card.

"Sword card!" Kuragari prepared to battle Li. Li turned into a defense position, but was too late. Kuragari stabbed him in the leg, then removed the sword. Li topped to the floor.

"Li!" Sakura rushed to him. "Arrow card! Release!" Sakura struck back. Kuragari was shot in the left arm and left shoulder. But he had bought enough time. The Return had escaped and now he was running. "Shadow card, bind Kuragari!" Sakura ordered in rage.

"Flower card. Blind the Shadow!" Kuragari countered. The Shadow couldn't make out what was ahead of it. It fell into confusion. By the time the flowers vanished, Kuragari was gone too. Sakura turned back to Li. Madison and Kero were by him.

"He's going to need a doctor." Madison said. "We cannot wait another day." Sakura looked down, then to the rising sun.

"You go and capture the card." Li told her. "I'll be ok for a while, and the card's weak. It couldn't have gotten far."

"But…." Sakura tried.

"Go!" Li ordered.

"I'll stay with him Sakura." Madison said trying to relieve her. After a minute of deciding, Sakura finally left with Kero after the Return card.

"Fly!" Sakura said and going into the sky was hoping no one would see her. She found the Return card with Kuragari in the woods. She let down in front of them. Kero slowly transformed.

"Windy! Watery! Release and dispel!" Sakura launched her fire card plan. Kero followed with fireballs.

"Thunder card! Take them down!" Kuragari launched his counter attack. Watery fell first and Windy was taking a beating. Lightning filled the channels of air of Windy. Lightning was coiling back through Kero's fireballs, running to his mouth. He had to stop of be shot down. Watery finally returned to its card form. Windy flashed around Lightning, which was distracted with Kero. Kero was finally electrocuted. He transformed and landed on a tree. Windy, weak and diluted made its was toward Kuragari and the Return card. They both withstood the weak bursts of wind though. Sakura returned it and Thunder came toward her.

"You both did great." Sakura said to the two cards. "Just what I thought would happen." Thunder was now close to her. "Fire card! Release and dispel!" Firey's spirit emerged. It blasted down Thunder and headed straight for Kuragari. He ran but was not fast enough. Firey pinned him between two trees and the next thing he knew, he was caught in a circle of fire. "Return card." Sakura said to the fleeing card. "Return to your power confined!" The card sealed and traveled into the distance. Up at the clock tower, Madison and Li saw a piece of paper enter and land in Li's hand. It was the return card.

"You can't keep me trapped in here!" Kuragari said madly.

"I don't intend to." Sakura corrected him. The Float card that Sakura released brought Li and Madison to their location.

"Ready?" Sakura asked.

"Ready." Li confirmed. "Time card! Return us back to the place we belong!" As Li said this, a vertex formed from the Time card. They were returned to the woods, except everything seemed older.

"It can't be." Kuragari panted, weak. As he staggered off into the distance, a shadowy figure in blue robes gathered in the trees high above.

"They made it. I had doubts, but they did." Sakura thought about how Tori would be on her case. That she shouldn't run off or be around that "Li-kid". Madison had walked home, and Li was away to treat his injuries. Kero lingered behind Sakura's head. Sakura walked inside her house. She was expecting Tori to be in the kitchen waiting, but he wasn't. He walked down the stairs.

"Your home early." Tori exclaimed. Sakura didn't quite get it.

"I suppose you want to know where I was." Sakura asked her brother.

"I know where you were." Tori said puzzled. Sakura was shocked at his answer. "You were at Madison's house, weren't you?" He now interrogated. Kero held the back of Sakura's head. Maneuvering where Tori couldn't see.

"_I _was?" Sakura blurted.

"Her mother said so." Tori continued with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes, I was." Sakura finished and ran upstairs. She didn't understand why Madison's mother would lye about that. A boy in blue jeans and a white shirt passed her house, concealing the prophecy ball.

"All for you, Sakura. All for you." He said.

Author's note: A very long one, I surprised my self. I knew some extra info was needed to catch an idea for the next chapter. And then there's my attention to accuracy. Time travel is always a tricky thing and I like to know the little things are right, like what happened in the present of this story. Do you all like these stories long say more than five pages?


	4. THE LOST CARDS-part I, the unexpected fr...

"The Unexpected Friend"

Author's note: This one you may consider **a little more violent** than the last ones. If you do decide that it is, **Please do not e-mail me because of the content, you have been warned.** Sorry though, it's just in this chapter.

****

"THE LOST CARDS-part I: The Unexpected Friend"

"The cardcaptors have ruined my intire plan for the clowbook!" Kuragari Yelled tearing benches from their bolts on the ground in fits of rage. He was taking his anger out on the park. His master plan was now hopelessly lost.

"Heather, let's go" a worried mother said to her daughter. "The police will take care of that disturbed child." She said walking away with her daughter.

"They want disturbed! I'll show'em disturbed! Electroshock!" Kuragari roared launching a bolt of lightning at a vending machine. Suddenly four cops appeared from behind the shrubs. They tackled Kuragari to the ground.

"Let go of me!" Kuragari struggled as they picked him up. He was able to get a fist free. He punched the officer that was holding him in the face. Blood ran down from the officer's nose. They took out their pepper spray. With one sharp spray to the face, fell to the ground and screamed with pain, but still fought back. They attacked him with their batons and were able to get a hold of him.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of you." One of them said as the others dragged him into a squad car.

"Let me go back! Let me go back!" Kuragari called desperately. "I'll get you cardcaptors for this!" Kuragari continued.

"What was he talking about." One of the officers said to the other.

"I have no idea." Responded the other. The rest of the officers looked at each other and shook their heads. The police cars then drove off with Kuragari in the first car. He rammed the window with his head repeatedly in an attempt to break the glass, but he passed out. Hiding behind a tree, the boy with blue jeans and a white shirt stood. He didn't need a prophecy ball to know what was going to happen. He shook his head.

"Maybe I don't even have to confront you, Kuragari." He said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura and Madison sat at sat by the tree where Sakura was sucked back by the Return card.

"It was really odd." Madison begun. "My mom said I'd slept over at your place."

"My brother said I slept over at your house." Sakura followed.

"Something's not right." Madison said.

"I hope Li's ok." Sakura said changing the subject, remembering about his leg. They both sat there in silence waiting for a temple to open. Kero send them over there. He said that they might have something he needed a charm of some sort.

"Do you even know what you're looking for." Madison asked. "He didn't really describe it."

"He said I'd sense it when I saw it." Sakura responded, bewildered. The temple opened. They walked in, bowing to the priests. Sakura scanned the room. She didn't sense anything. One of the priests watched and approached Sakura. He was old and tall.

"You were sent here by an important person to look for something." He said without doubt.

"How did you know?" Sakura asked. 

"I can feel your urge to find it. And if you don't, it will be a disappointment." He responded patiently. We've felt that something here was amiss, for a while now. Perhaps you are here to claim it.

"I guess so." Sakura responded careful with her words. She and Madison continued through the halls. Then finally, Sakura was lured to a corner. A bed end table stood there.

"Kero sure knows how to pick his charms." Madison exclaimed referring to the table.

"It's not the table." Sakura said moving towards the table. She rubbed the top of it. "Madison, flat screwdriver." Sakura ordered. Madison handed it to her. She laid her hand just above the underside of the table. "Madison, I want you to hit the table here." Sakura requested. Madison was puzzled, but went ahead with it. Madison hit the table on its underside. The middle section popped up. Sakura quickly stuck the screwdriver into the space that opened before it closed. She then opened up the little door in the middle of the table that the screwdriver was wedged. Inside was a compartment. There was a beetle like stone. It was semi-heavy, thick, and emerald green. It looked like a scarab charm from Egyptian mythology. "This is it." Sakura confirmed with Madison.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kuragari sat in solitary confinement. The doctors considered him crazy. Kuragari sat in the middle of the room, meditating.

"A force that shall do the bidding of my threats

Of shadows, darkness, and all sorts of deaths

Conjuror the spirits that can devastate all

And allow me to force my way out of this hall"

Kuragari glowed. He envisioned himself, passing through the walls, into the halls, and into a boiler room that was across the hall. It started to heat up. Steam violently was released from the boilers. Light Alarms flashed redness in the scorching room. Sound alarms started buzzing in the main office.

"Would a maintenance crew please report to boiler room 5" The manager sounded over the P.A. While this was happening, the boy with the white shirt and blue jeans walked into the lobby.

"Hello, I am Shuai and I've been sent to pick up Kuragari's things. His mom sent me over. The woman at the desk looked at him. Meanwhile, five floors up, the boilers started superheating, thrashing violently from the immense heat inside. The maintenance crew proceeded down from other end of the hall. Suddenly there was an explosion. In the lobby, more alarms went off. Buzzers read that boiler #2 was offline and #'s 1 and 3 were at critical heat. Alarms in the halls started going off. The maintenance crew on floor 5 ran down the stairs. Fire suppressant systems on that floor started going off. Water sprayed everywhere.

"Evacuate floor five. I repeat, evacuate floor five." The manager spoke of the P.A. system. The lady helping Shuai was now assisting the manager.

"We've lost communications and security on that floor now." She spoke. The manager shook his head. The alarm for boiler #1 was going bizark, when it finally shut off. Another explosion followed on floor 5. #3 was now approaching a core breach.

"All personnel. Evacuate floors four through six." The manager spoke once again. "The press is going to have a field day with this." He said to himself. Doctors and security rushed through the halls, escorting patents down or up the steps to floors three and seven.

"Computer has confirmed that the locks on the doors are offline on floor five." The lady assisting the manager spoke. Kuragari opened his door. Fire lurched outside the door of the boiler room. He proceeded to the storeroom on that floor and gathered his cards, charms, and key. Then took the stairs down to floor four.

"Security to floors three and seven, guard every access point." The manager's voice continued to sound. Kuragari was in between floors four and three, going down the stairs. He saw two guards standing on the other side of the door through the window. He ran back up the steps, and confronted a double-layered glass window.

"Power card!" Kuragari ordered. The strength filled him and he took his wand and smashed it against the window. It shattered to pieces. "Jump card!" Kuragari announced. Then he leaped from the fourth story window and ran off into the distance.

"I'm sorry," The assistant told Shuai. Were having some problems, could you come back in about four days?"

"Sure." Shuai said walking out of the hospital. He knew that what ever had happened, Kuragari was responsible.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura opened the door to her bedroom. Madison left to her house because her mom needed her. She looked around for Kero. In his drawer, she heard thuds. Approaching, she could hear certain phrases, like, "You can't take the Clow Cards" and "Yue, we need you" or "Yue, you can't" Sakura wondered what this all meant. The appearance of Yue was something she was coming to know more about. But she still didn't understand it. Out of no where, a high pitch tone, too high for a person to hear, sailed through the air. Suddenly, the drawer flue open and Kero came flipping outward, the drawer was upside down, and its contents scattered across the floor.

"NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kero screamed as he was flung through the air into the wall across the room. Kero then woke with a daze.

"What happened?" Sakura asked worried about what just happened.

"The Clow Cards, I heard some of their voices, crying out for me, then were silenced. I think they….." Kero trailed off in wonderment if it could happen.

"What?" Sakura forced him to continue.

"died." Kero said looking down.

"Is that possible?" Sakura asked startled.

"I'm not sure." Kero responded still trying to make sense of what he heard.

"Which ones?" Sakura asked.

"The Wave, The Lock, and I think The Create." Kero recalled. The phone rang before Sakura could ask anymore questions. Sakura picked it up.

"Sakura, did you hear it?" It was Li. She couldn't remember the last time he called.

"Hear what?" Sakura said puzzled.

"The voices." Li said annoyed. "The Clow Cards." Li continued.

"Kero heard it. He says they might be dying." Sakura told Li.

"We have to search for them." Kero said. "It's Kuragari. He's done this." Kero left out Sakura's window and Sakura chased after him, hanging up the phone on Li. Outside at the ice arena, Li was following the lasin board, not knowing why it was going this way. Shuai was what it was leading him to. Shuai had been told to try not to interfere with the other cardcaptors. So he ran, but Li called upon the Dash card. Quickly, he was gaining on Shuai.

"Invisibility!" Shuai called hitting his sword on the incantation card.

"Lightning!" Li called aiming where he last saw Shuai. Shuai was struck and lost the invisibility. Kero, feeling a new presence, diverted course to Shuai. Sakura, now on the Fly card, followed Kero.

"Who are you?" Li said. "Have you been sent by the elders?"

"I am Shuai and yes, I have." Shuai responded. "I was told not to interfere with you." Sakura and Kero set down on Li's location. "I was sent to chase after Kuragari by the elders. He is the first of his family to actually try to avenge his ancestor. They think it's a thing to get attention." Sakura looked at him. His robes looked just like Li's, except they were blue. "I heard the screams of the Clow Cards. Did you?"

"I did" Kero said worried, still thinking about what it means.

"So did I" Li said. I was looking for the location when the lasin board changed its target to you. Sakura didn't answer.

"Were you the one who created an alibi for me and Madison?" Sakura asked, changing the subject. Shuai nodded.

"Ready or not, here I am." Kuragari spoke from behind them. They all turned. "So, Shuai, I see you've finally arrived. A little late than you usually are." He continued, annoying Shuai.

"You're going back to the house of time. Then your understand why Clow didn't let your ancestor have the cards." Shuai said, warning him to stand down.

"If you think that's true, you're going to fail again." Kuragari continued. "Electroshock!" Kuragari cried out. Bolts of lightning dashed between the three cardcaptors and Kero.

"Illusion card, show Kuragari false targets. Release and dispel!" Sakura countered. But Kuragari had stopped. Kero was now farther separated from the three. He pulled out a card that had the backing of a Clow Card.

"Possess Card!" He said. "Lend your powers to my key. Grant me your powers! Release!" Kuragari pointed the wand toward Kero. A strike of crimson red shot out and hit Kero. Kero glowed for five seconds before the redness disappeared, then flue off into the distance.

"Where is Kero going?" Sakura asked Li.

"I don't know." Li responded.

"Lets go after him then." Shuai said impatiently, chasing after him.

"Not going to happen." Kuragari said to then. "Mist card! Cloud their vision. Release!" Mist began to fill the air. They couldn't see through it.

"Freeze card!" Make the mist fall!" Li said releasing the Mist. The droplets of water froze and rained to the ground.

"Return to your power confined! Mist!" The frozen droplets gathered together into the card. It then went to Li. Then scanned the perimeter but Kuragari had left and Kero had disappeared.

Li was about to give Sakura the Mist card, but she tried to tell him to keep it.

"Just play rock, paper, scissors over it." Shuai said annoyed.

"That's childish." Li said surprised at him for the suggestion.

"Do you know a better was for someone to keep the card. If none of you will take it, I will." Shuai said thinking that he could use a Clow Card or two.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot" Li and Sakura said in unison over the Mist card. Sakura drew paper, but Li had scissors. Li tried to change quickly but Shuai saw.

"I didn't know you were the cheating type." Shuai said to Li. Sakura gave her Mist card to Li and he joined them into one card. Now for the Move card from yesterday.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot." They both said once again in unison. Li had rock, but this time, Sakura put out scissors. Sakura gave him her Move card and Li took it reluctantly, and joined them. Shuai was still mad though over the loss of the guardian.

Authors note: I really thought this chapter would be longer, like "A Time of Before". This one too had a lot of information to understand to. "A Time of Before", you have to understand that going back in time to take the Clowbook was the reason Kuragari's came to Readington and his failure was the reason he went mad in the beginning of this chapter. This chapter is the first of three parts. (Hears boo's because of the cliffhanger) It's easier on me to make it three parts. This one shows the aftermath of Kuragari's master plan's failure. Shuai means water. Please review with thoughts or comments. Also, where did the Possess card come from? Try to guess.


	5. THE LOST CARDS-part II: Possession

"Possession"

Refresh: Shuai is the mysterious boy that you've read about since chapter two. He was sent by the elders to bring back Kuragari. Kero, Li, and Shuai hear a cry out by some Clow Cards and Kero thinks they're dying. A new card, The Possess was used on Kero and now he has disappeared. Li has taken possession of the Move and Mist cards.

****

"THE LOST CARDS-part II: Possession"

"Possess card, return." Kuragari ordered. The crimson red spirit glided out of Kero's body and into its card form in Kuragari's hand. The spirit on the card looked like the shadow card, except it had glowing red eyes where the head would be. In the middle of the body, claw-like hands came out of the black space. Kero woke up and looked around, not recognizing anything, except noticing that he was in a cage.

"Let me out of here!" Kero yelled at Kuragari.

"How about………….. not." Kuragari responded. "Besides, you aren't in a place to make demands." Kero stared at Kuragari angrily. "I have an offer for you. You can take the winning side, my side, or stay with Sakura and when I'm done with her, I'll trap you in the cover of the book."

"Yue will never let you do that……" Kero argued.

"Yue is in hiding not to be found and by the time he figures out what is going on, it'll be too late for him too." Kuragari interrupted.

"I've had enough of this." Kero said and began to glow. He was attempting to transform.

"Stupid guardian." Kuragari said. "Possess card! Release!" The crimson red strike shot out of Kuragari's wand once again and into Kero's body. Kero went back to his "plush toy" form. "Now," Kuragari pointed to the table. "I need you to engage a transfer of power among these Clow Cards." On the table, there were two rows of cards. In the first row were The: Wave, Lock, Create, Sweet, Song, Silent, Erase, Glow, Libra, Loop, and Change. The second row was missing cards under the Wave, Lock, and Create, but it continued under the Sweet. The cards were The: Balance, Teleport, Thought, Fake, Construct, Air, Darkness, and Wrap. The backs of them were blank and white. "I also want you to give each full power, and these too." Kuragari said placing two more cards on the table The Event and The Counter. Kero nodded and Kuragari opened the cage. Kero glided over to the two rows of cards. He held position in the middle of the table. Kero transformed and slowly began to glow. Both rows glowed too in unison. The second row began to glow stronger and the first row's glow began to fade. Finally, the first row's glow went out and the second row was still being filled with power by kero. Time passed. Kuragari wondered what was taking so long. He got worried the cardcaptors would sense the power emanating from Kero and the cards. After ten minutes, it was done. The possess card flue from Kero's body and into it's card form and landed on the table, now fully powered. Kero transformed back and fainted, falling to the ground. The backs of the second row had turned to the design of normal Clow cards. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura, Li, and Shuai were walking through the park, looking for Kero. A maintenance man was fixing the vending machine, which Kuragari had broke. They walked in silence thinking of a plan, but they could think of nothing.

"I didn't know there was a Possess card." Sakura said to Li. Li turned his head back to her and responded, "There isn't." in a cruel tone. Sakura thought he was a little angry at this point and turned to Shuai, who was walking next to her. "You said to Kuragari that he'd go to the house of time. What is that?" Sakura asked Shuai. 

"There are nine orbs. Each one has there own home in which we contain them. Each has a special meaning. The orb of time, allows you to look back into the past or future. The orb of prophecy lets you see the meaning of your life." Shuai responded. 

"And the prophecy ball you have, do the elders know you took it?" Li just came out and said.

"No." Shuai responded looking downward. "I didn't want to run into this blindly like you. I wasn't ready for this, but I was the only one. They said that I had all I needed but I didn't believe them. It wouldn't China where I could consult the orb of prophecy when I was in trouble. How did you know I had it?" Shuai said.

"I see you trying to hide it." Li responded. Shuai pulled out the prophecy ball from under his robe. Sakura eyed it, wondering if she could see her future with kero and the Clow Cards with it.

"What's the difference between the orb of prophecy and the prophecy ball?" Sakura asked Shuai.

"The orb of prophecy can examine your life but the prophecy ball doesn't have that much power. It can only tell you the most likely outcome of an event if you don't change the course of time." Shuai answered. Out of the blue, a familiar high-pitched scream sounded through the air. This time Sakura heard it. The Clow cards were crying out to them. Then like nothing, the sounds stopped abruptly.

"I heard it again, more cards. About eight." Li said jumping up. Sakura nodded acknologing she had heard it too. 

"Use the lasin board!" Shuai commanded. Li pulled out the lasin board. The light flashed though the woods. Out of the woods the light went on. Turn after turn was a never-ending line that they followed. Running past people and getting weird looks from them was something they were constantly getting.

"Are you getting anything with the prophecy ball?" Li said, wanting to know where they were headed.

"I see lots of water and what looks like a past memory of some sort." Shuai responded.

"Past memory of what?" Sakura asked, looking into the prophecy ball. She saw a cave and a shrine. "That's the place where I caught the Erase card." Sakura added. They all continued to run on. It began to drizzle. They heard fearce crackles of lightning. It was obvious that this was going to be a rough storm, a storm they didn't need right now.

"Which ever one of you has the rain card, use it to stop the rain." Shuai called to them.

"I've got it." Sakura said bring it out. "Rain card, Release and dispel! Control the rain!" The rain spirit was released from the card. It stretched itself out, hating being confined to its card form, but it went forth into the clouds. A waterfall of rain fell from the spot it had entered. Something had gone wrong.

"Why is _more _rain coming down?" Sakura asked Li. He had no idea though. Then, out from the clouds, shot the rain spirit. Coming after it, was another rain spirit. Then they knew this was no ordinary rainstorm. Sakura pulled out her staff preparing to seal both cards when out of the corner of her eye came a fimular thunder beast. It shot down Sakura's Rain card. It plummeted to the ground. Sakura called it back, but Thunder and the other rain spirit retreated into the clouds.

"Fly card!" Sakura called, hitting the card. Wings sprouted from her wand and she flue in front of the others. "Everyone on." She announced. Shuai hopped aboard and Li hesitated.

"What are you waiting for?" Shuai asked. Li gave in and got on behind Shuai. Sakura took off. Rain pelted them from all angles. The thunder beast roared downward, trying to tackle the three. Dodging it was taking too much time.

"Release the light! Lightning!" Li said, pointing his sword at Thunder's next possible location. Thunder flue up and intersected the spot that Li had struck. It plummeted down, colliding with the ground. It roared with pain. Sakura just flue on though, following the lasin board's light.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Sakura is persistent. Wouldn't even stop to capture Thunder." Kuragari pointed out to Kero, who was looking down at the new cards. "Kero, I'm going out," Kuragari said, gathering up the second row of cards. "Lock yourself in the cage and……" Kuragari thought, "eat the key." Kero glided up to the cage. Once inside, he turned around and grabbed a bar of the door. Then shutting it, he slipped the key into the lock, turned it, pulled it out, and then stuck it in his mouth. Kuragari watched him out of the corner of his eye. Kero swallowed and fell flat on the floor of the suspended cage, feeling sick. Kuragari unleashed Fly and took off to recover the Thunder card.

~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*

Sakura's Fly card began to lose altitude. Carrying three people through a pounding rainstorm just wasn't something this half-powered Clow card could keep up. They continued to fly though, descending as they went. In the distance, Li spotted a moving dot. Squinting his eyes, he recognized it as Kuragari.

"Release the light! Lightning!" Li commanded from Sakura's wand as they descended. The bolt dashed behind Kuragari's back, missing him by a few inches but it was enough to startle him. Kuragari lost control and fell to the ground. He saw Richu in the distance and returned it to its card form. Meanwhile, Sakura landed on the beach. The lasin board's light beam went out to sea.

"Float card! Transport us across!" Sakura said, releasing the card. Sakura, LI, and Shuai rose into the air and began traveling over the water. Kuragari was now back in the air on Fly.

"Kuragari won't be able to catch us with his half-powered fly card, but we should speed up anyway." Shuai said to Sakura. She tried to increase speed, but wasn't getting too far on this half-powered card.

"I'll never get to them in time." Kuragari said to himself. But then he thought of an idea. Kuragari landed on the beach and pulled out another card with a Clow card backing. Li and Shuai watched.

"Sakura, he's using another card!" Li warned.

"Event card! Cause the Float to loss power!" Kuragari called out. A dark sky blue stringy spirit emerged from the card.

"What is the Event card?" Shuai asked worriedly.

"I have no idea." Li said quickly. "Sakura, we need a new plan!" Li said turning around to Sakura. The pink sphere of the Float disappeared from around them. Nothing supported the three of them anymore. Gravity pulled them downward until they hit the water.

"Float card! Return and unite your powers!" Kuragari called from shore. The spirit traveled through the air, and into Kuragari's Float card. "Fly!" Kuragari said starting out once again. He soared out over the water. Sakura, Shuai and Li stared up at him. They tried difficulty to swim, but their clothes were making it tough.

"You're not getting away that easy," Li said, taking out the Mist card. "Mist Card! Stop Kuragari! Release!" The cloud of mist floated over to Kuragari's position. Kuragari tried to speed up, but the full power Mist card was too fast. A hole began to form in the right wing because of the mist. The hole began to spread out and the Fly card began retreating into it card form.

"Return to your power confined! Fly card!" Sakura announced. The Wings came off of Kuragari's wand. He splashed down into the water trying to grab the card as it flue through the air. It traveled across the water and into Li's hand.

Teleport Card! Transport me to the cave!" Kuragari announced. Kuragari disappeared in a flash of light, gone. Li swan to Sakura handing her the card. Remembering what Kero told her about not losing the allied cards, Sakura accepted it. Sakura joined and Re-released Fly. Li and Shuai got on. The lasin boards beam started back up pointing out the correct cave.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Kero! You still here!" Kuraguri yelled.

"Yes" Kero replied, still rubbing his stomach.

"We've got to go. Sakura will be here any second." Kuraguri told him.

"But I ate the key." Kero responded sickly.

"You're not leaving." Li shouted. Kuragari turned around. He saw Li, Sakura, and Shuai standing at the entrance of the cave.

"Then we battle here." Kuragari said bitterly.

Author's note: Sorry to end like that, I needed something for part three. (Hears boos in the background). This would have taken less time but I was working on two of the other chapters. Is anyone getting confused on who has what card? If your not, than your good. I'm almost at a complete loss (lol). I'll make a list of who has what and put it out in one of the next author's note. I'll also make a list of what the new cards do and put it out in one of the other author's notes. Bye!


	6. THE LOST CARDS-part III, the Release

"THE LOST CARDS-part III: The Release

Refresh: Kero has helped Kuragari create new cards by taking the powers of old ones and transferring them into new cards. Sakura has taken possession of the Fly card. Sakura, Li, and Shuai have found the cave where Kuragari is hiding.

****

"THE LOST CARDS-part III: The Release"

"You can't stop me, not with these new cards on my side." Kuragari told them.

"Storm!" Li commanded. The storm spirit flue around Kuragari, creating a tornado.

"Counter Card!" The Counter spirit rose from the card. It was a purple girl, similar to power. The Counter card punched the storm. The Tornado dismembered and crashed to the ground. Li returned it. "Lightning!" Kuragari said, pointing his sword at Kero's cage. The bolt struck a bar, breaking it. "Kero, transform and use your fireballs." Kuragari ordered. Sakura watched this; horrified that Kero was obeying.

"Lightning!" said Shuai launching the lightning at the Counter spirit.

"Shot!" Sakura said releasing it at the counter card. Kero was almost fully transformed.

The counter was using its hands to punch the shots made by the shot card back at it. The shot card fell to its visible form.

"Return and unite your powers! Shot!" Kuragari said, taking possession of another of Sakura's cards.

"Freeze!" Li Commanded. The freeze spirit surged on the Counter spirit. The punches made by the Counter didn't have any effect. Kuragari saw he was in trouble. The Freeze was freezing the Counter.

"Illusion card! Distract Kero!" Sakura said. Illusions of cakes, muffins, and assorted candies appeared all around him. Kero's head turned left to right, unsure of where to begin eating. "Possess card! Return to your power confined!" Sakura said, pointing the wand at Kero. The Crimson red cloud rose from Kero's body and into a card. It went to Sakura. Kuragari called back the Counter.

"Teleport card! Transport me and Kero out!" The spirit rose and took the shape of a bird.

"Kero's coming with me!" Sakura told Kuragari. "Illusion card! Create seven more Kero's!" Sakura ordered. Seven more Kero's appeared. Kuragari stopped the Transport card.

"Dark card!" Kuragari said. Lights in the cave fell black.

"Glow card! Release!" Sakura said. Dim lights went through out the cave. But it wasn't powerful enough. The lights went out and the visible spirit showed its self.

"Glow Card! Return to you power confined!" The Glow card went to Kuragari. The Light from the Glow was enough for Sakura and Kero to find the table with the dying Clow Cards. Li and Shuai were still struggling to find Kuragari. They slashed air with their swords not hitting anything. The lasin board beam and the lightning from their swords wasn't having any effect.

Kuragari had forgotten about the dying Clow cards like Li and Shuai had.

"Kero, how do we save them?" Sakura said sorrowfully.

"We can't, their too far gone." Kero responded. Sakura could feel their cries for help.

"How about if I join these cards with mine." Sakura said, taking out her counterparts and joining them.

"It's not working, the magic is still too low." Kero told her.

Something, we have to do something." Sakura said crying.

"Wrap card! Entangle them!" Kuragari said. Li was caught first, not being able to see a thing, he dropped his sword. Shuai could feel the Wrap's presence closing on him.

"Fire!" Shuai said hitting the incantation paper with his sword. The Wrap blazed with fire. Light began to shine through the cave, defeating the Dark card. Kuragari returned the Dark card. The Wrap's visible from could be seen. It was a lady covered in vines, like the Wood, but with no leaves coming from them. Sakura turned, seeing it.

"Wrap card! Return to your power confined!" Sakura said, standing at the table. The visible form was sucked up by Sakura's wand and went to Shuai.

"Teleport card!" Kuragari said, the bird appeared, touching Kuragari and they both disappeared. Li and Shuai looked around.

"Come on Kero, there has to be a way to save them." Sakura kept bargaining. Li came over to the table and felt their dwindling power.

"There is something…" Kero said slowly and was cut off by Sakura.

"I'll do it!" She blurted out. "What do I do?"

"Stick the cards in the book." Kero said. Sakura pulled out The Clow and stuck all of the cards in. "Now use the Windy spell to scatter them." Kero said.

"But that will release them!" Li objected.

"But they'll recharge and live on." Kero said slowly, second-guessing his suggestion.

"That is true." Shuai said, grabbing Li, stopping him from taking the cards. Sakura held the book in front of her, like she had done the year before, except this time, it wasn't going to be an accident. Sakura opened the cover.

"Windy!" She shouted. The spirit flue around the book. The cards one by one scattered about, through and out of the cave. It was done. Sakura sat there, crying. They were gone again, lost.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura and Kero sat in Sakura's bedroom. Sakura was talking with Madison on the phone.

"I can't believe I missed that." Madison said. "It would have made an awesome tape."

The doorbell rang and Sakura listened for who it was.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Came a shout from downstairs. It was Tori.

"Talk later." Sakura said quickly, hanging up the phone and raced past a sleeping Kero to the stairs. In the doorway, she saw Li and Tori fighting.

"Stop it you two! Stop!" Sakura shouted getting between them. "I know how much you want to kill each other but do it on your own time!" She shouted, looking in Tori's direction. "Why don't you go finish dinner." Tori stomped off in the Kitchen direction. Tori had had a bad day. He was up all last night studying for a test and forgot to do the homework for another class. Tempting detention was not something he liked.

"Thanks for coming Li." Sakura said to him. "I didn't think you'd come."

"Shuai kind of made me. He said I should tell you something." Li responded.

Tori kept a close eye on the doorway. This wasn't something he was going to get used to. 

"What is it?" Sakura asked. Li blushed.

"It's really nothing." He said nervously. "Why did you want me over here?" He asked. 

"Actually, it was more of Kero who wanted you over. He just didn't want to call." Sakura responded. "You know how he is about you." From Tori's view of watching the door, he saw Li entering the house. Tori dashed to the doorway.

"Being on our property is bad enough but I won't tolerate that _thing_ in our house!" Tori said growling at him.

"Alright, he'll stay there. I'll be right back." Sakura ran up the steps. Tori had a dangerous look in his eyes. Sakura came down with a bag. "You can leave now." She said to Tori. Tori once again stomped off to the kitchen. Sakura closed the front door exiting with the bag. "Kero, it's alright now." Sakura said to the bag. Kero popped out. He shivered at the sight of Li but knew that he had to tell him.

"When I was controlled by the Possess card, it was at half power." He told them. The night was cold and Sakura and Li sat close to each other for heat, which was bothering Kero. Kero thought of the torture Tori must be going through thinking of that the two of them are doing at the doorway. "Because of that, thee were laps in the possession spell. When one occurred, I planted a spell in the cards so that they would break their seals at a certain day, which is unknown to me. So, I've fixed Sakura's Possess card. I need Shuai's Wrap card to undo the spell. Also, I used up most of my power in the power transfer of the cards, so, I won't be transforming anytime soon." Kero said. "I really liked that form." He added bowing his head.

"You'll get it back." Sakura said softly, leaning over and hugging Kero.

"I can't breath!" Kero muttered.

"What's going on out here!" Tori opened the door, barging in. Li rolled back getting up. Sakura fell to the ground, hiding Kero.

"You two have had too much _private_ time." Tori added pulling Sakura's arm, dragging her into the house. Sakura ran upstairs before Tori could notice Kero. Li began to run back to his house before Tori could begin yelling at him again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Did you tell her?" Shuai asked. He and Li were approaching Li's apartment.

"I will." Li responded annoyed. "Kero says he needs to borrow the Wrap card." Li added changing the subject. Shuai eyed the prophecy ball.

"Give me an answer." Shuai mumbled.

"What are you asking?!" Li interrupted, "Give me that! I know what you're doing!" Li continued trying to grab the crystal ball from Shuai's hands.

While all this was happening, over at a familiar shrine, a lady dressed in a white gown walked through a hall of candles. She had hope and innocence in her eyes, but was unprepared for what she was about to do.

Author's note: I tried to make it longer, I really did. (sighs) Unfortunately for me, I've gone ahead two or three chapters so I'm getting mixed up on the recent captures. Here's a list of who has what cards up to this chapter. Cards not mentioned are at half power but are owned by either Sakura or Li and Kuragari:

Sakura: Windy, Fly, Shadow, Mirror, Maze, and Possess.

Li: Time, Mist, Return, Move.

Kuragari: Power, Shield, Glow (1/2 powered), Float, and Shot.

Shuai: Wrap

Released cards: Wave, Lock, Song, Glow (1/2 powered), Change, Create, Libra, Sweet, Silent, Erase, and Loop.


	7. Open the Circle

"Open the Circle"

Author's notes: This chapter revolves around a television show that shouldn't have been seen by young kids (though that never stopped me…lol). If you don't want to read it through, you don't have to. None of the future events will revolve around this chapter

****

"Open the Circle"

In the mists, the moonlight glazed everything and lit up a certain sacred tree. The temple was closed and no one was around. Candles were lit all around a sacrificial table was facing parallel to the tree. A podium stood in front of it, open to a page in a book. Ancient Chinese script lined the page, showing different incantations of witchcraft and "The Circle". A woman in a white silk nightgown approached the podium. She was tall, slender, had blond hair and emerald eyes, like Sakura's. She walked slowly, observing everything she passed and her movements were graceful and made with thought. The candle's flames grew taller, sensing magic emanating from her. She had waited for this moment along time. She looked around nervously, knowing what the spirits were capable of. Then she looked down at the book and recited a spell:

"Open the circle and you shall see

Just how strong that I can be

Grant the power you have to me

Enchanters and prophets I call opon thee

Open the circle!"

The lady looked around and turned in circles. Not seeing anything, she started speaking again, "Open the Circle!" But a presence was now in the air. Some of the candles blue out, seemingly under their own power. Then a scratch ran across the lady's left arm, slicing through the thin sleeve. Pure red blood squeezed outward. More scratches followed. Across her chest, then on her legs. They increased in speed. The candles went out one by one and she knew something wasn't right. She was scratched and slashed on every part of her body. The gown was beginning to be saturated in blood. She screamed in terror and fell over. A lone candle blue over onto the book. It burned nearly instantly. Wind blue the fire across the other table and the ground. The fire then blue out. Remains of the book, table, candles, and the lady lay on the ground.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura, Madison, Li, and Shuai were walking to the temple. Li told Sakura had something he wanted to say to her. Madison couldn't wait, with her camera gear, she was ready. Shuai followed them insanely, annoying Madison who was wondering if he was also bothering Sakura. He insisted on coming everywhere, saying they'd need him if Kuragari attacked, that either they were too slow to act or they didn't know what to do. They approached the temple; cops and investigators lined the place.

"What happened?" Li asked the guard.

"There was a murder here last night." The guard responded in sorrowfully. Sakura, Madison, and Shuai were able to get a glimpse through the guards. Sakura cried out in horror, covering her face and running off. Madison went after her. Li looked through the cops. He and Shuai just looked. The lady's body was being covered up. It wasn't in time though. Li and Shuai saw all the scratches. It was like something out of a horror movie. Li saw a mysterious book, lying under the debris. Shuai went behind a corner and took out an incantation paper.

"Now, psychic!" Shuai said. He pointed to the book. It slowly moved across the ground, out of the yellow tape. He then walked over and picked it up. The pages were burnt and crippled. It was very hard to read if it could be read. Li ran over to him. "Anything you recognize?" Shuai asked Li. Li shook his head.

"It looks ancient." Li said observing it. "Open the circle" Li said reading it. A strong breeze just then flue through the air, enough to chill bones. The cover was brown and it had jewels lining the edge. It was also quite thin. Shuai closed it and they walked back to Sakua's house and they gave the book to Kero.

"What is it?" Sakura asked them.

"We found it at the crime scene. It looks magical." Li said.

"So you think the woman was a socerror of some kind." Kero assumed. "Because it looks more like witchcraft." Kero corrected.

"Witchcraft!" Sakura cried. "Everyone knows that's not real."

"Sakura," Kero said, "You have no right to say that. But either way, what ever happened there probably has something to do with this book. We need to get a copy that were able to read."

"What about that shop that is always selling these strange things?" Madison interrupted. "I think it's called… um… Osiris"

"Yes, that's it." Li said. "I've seen it. There only open on Sunday, which is today, fortunately."

"Alright than, lets go!" Madison said. "I've been wanting to go there."

"Li and I can go back to the crime scene to see if there's anything left of suspicion." Shuai said.

"And I'll stay here and study this one." Kero said.

"Than were all meet back here in about two hours." Sakura suggested.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura and Madison made it to Osiris. The place seemed dark and erie. "I don't like this place." Sakura said to Madison as they entered the store. Around them, on shelves in a display was ancient Egyptian replicas. There were ancient pictures, amulets, and charms. And in a far corner were ancient books. Sakura and Madison headed there. A man peered out from behind the bookshelf, startling Sakura and Madison in this dimly lit store.

"Can I help you with something?" he said in a voice with nearly no emotion. The sound reminded Sakura of Shuai. The man, Sakura now could see, was white had a baldheaded. He was kind of tall and just a little chubby.

"Were looking for this book." Sakura said nervously, showing the man the title.

"Over here." He said slowly, looking at them as if they were troublemakers. He walked two ils down. "This is the one." He said, pulling a book from the shelf. The book he pulled was white and fat, but it had the same title.

"This is a newer version." Madison said, glimpsing through it. "We need this copy." The man eyed them. He now knew they were up to something. Still watching them, he led them into the back, into a narrow closet. He reached into the darkness, pulling a string. A light popped on, lighting the closet dimly.

"It would be in here, if I have it." The man said, leaving back to the front.

"Is there a card to help us here?" Madison asked.

"I'm not to sure I'd want to use one. That man seemed suspicious of us." Sakura replied, kneeling on the floor, looking through the piles of books. Madison followed her in. The bell on the front door chinged. 

"I'm looking for these." A fimular voice said.

"Over there." The man replied.

"That's Kuragari!" Madison warned Sakura. They both got up and peered out of the closet door. Light from the windows came into the store, lighting it a little more. Kuragari was looking at the charms and amulets. Kuragari sharply turned his head in the closet direction. Sakura and Madison flue back into the closet.

"What's back there?" Kuragari asked the man.

"Old books that haven't been organized." The man said, returning for his work. Kuragari walked back to the closet.

"Sakura what'll we do?" Madison asked frantically. Kuragari appeared in the doorway.

"What are you doing here!" Kuragari asked, knowing they were up to no good. "What ever it is, I'm sure it's trouble." Kuragari said, approaching them. Sakura and Madison walked backwards until they ran into a wall. Kuragari noticed the old book Madison was holding. "What is that! Give it to me!" Kuragari hollered.

"Help!" Sakura and Madison cried as Kuragari tried to rip the book from their arms.

"What's going on back here!" The owner came running back. He took Kuragari by the collar and throw him back to the door. "If you want to harass my customers you can get out!" He ordered. Kuragari went back to the amulets, resuming his business but kept a watch on the closet.

"Thank you." Madison said, but the man walked out without saying another word. Sakura looked down.

"Is this it?" Sakura said, spotting a similar book.

"That's the one." Madison said, comparing the two. They both walked out. Kuragari wasn't there anymore. "I wonder why he was here." Madison said to Sakura.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"We found nothing." Shuai said, entering Sakura's room. Kero jumped up, startled.

"I take it Sakura's brother isn't home yet." Kero asked Li, who shook his head.

"You said the book involved witchcraft," Shuai said to Kero. "What's the difference?"

"They both are very alike, but they have their differences." Kero answered. "Listen, you cannot rely on Clow magic if you face an attack by this. It may not be able to handle it." Li looked puzzled by what Kero had said. If Clow's magic couldn't contain what they were facing, what other options did they have?

"Were back!" Sakura called up the stairs.

"We got it!" Madison said, giving the book to Sakura whom ran it up the stairs, while Madison went into the kitchen.

"Good, cause I can barely read this one." Kero remarked.

"This was the page it was turned too." Shuai said, taking the book from Sakura's hands and flipping through the pages to the spot. Sakura looked at him in an astonished look.

"How rude." She said, passing him to sit on the bed.

"Here it is," Shuai said, ignoring Sakura. "Open the Circle."

Sakura read:

Open the circle and you shall see

Just how strong that I can be

Downstairs, Madison was fixing sandwiches. A humming filled the room. A soft yet disturbing hum that ran shivers up her spine.

"Sakura" Kero interrupted. They all looked up to him. "I sense something."

"Where?" Li said.

"It's very near us." He responded. Madison came up just then.

"I made sandwiches," she said. They all jumped, startled. "You should get your refrigerator fixed." Madison told Sakura. Sakura looked puzzled.

"It's not broken." She contradicted.

"I heard this humming noise. I thought it was the refrigerator." Madison responded. Li looked up at Kero.

"Kero, can we use the cards to figure out what were up against?" Sakura said. "Like when we used them for the Mirror?"

"It should work." Kero said. "It's the exact same principle." Sakura took the cards and laid them out. She piled them as Kero told her. Madison, Li, and Shuai watched. Li was rather jealous at this. He barely had enough cards to try, even though he knew there were other ways. The cards were arranged. Shuai naulled on a sandwich. Sakura turned the top card. It was the water card. Sakura turned to Kero.

"Water is emotional. The thing were dealing with is probably fueled by anger." Kero explained. Sakura now turned the bottom card. It was the sword card. "This means that it's looking for a challenge. Ready to fight." Kero continued and Sakura turned the middle three. They were the Firey, Fight, and Libra. Sakura stared at the Libra card. "This thing must do judging." Li said.

"I think I get it." Shuai said. "The lady tried the spell, she failed the judgment and it fought her until she died.

"But what's Firey got to do with it?" Li asked.

"It must be because Firey is energetic and full of energy." Kero said. Sakura nodded, then turned over the card at the bottom right. It was the Dark card. They all sat there, not knowing what that meant.

"It's trying to cause night?" Shuai said stupidly.

"I'm home!" Cried Tori as he entered through the front door.

"I'm out of here." Li said to them, making his way to the window.

"I'm right behind you." Shuai said. Kero watched them scurry out.

"You're just going to abandon me to this?" Sakura said, looking at Li.

"Not abandon, just leave." Li said with a smile, jumping out the window, Shuai followed. Then someone tapped at Sakura's door and it opened. Kero stiffened and fell flat. Tori pocked his head through the doorway.

"Are you talking to yourself again?" He asked, looking around.

"No" Sakura said, picking Kero up and sitting him on the shelf.

"Than are you hiding someone." Tori said about to enter.

"Just me." Madison said, appearing from behind the door. Tori took a stronger look.

"Leave me alone!" Sakura screamed at hid, taking the pillow from her bed and throwing it at the door. Tori shut the door.

"Sakura, it's bad for you to yell." Madison advised her.

"You should listen to her." Tori said, reappearing in the doorway. Sakura stared at him. Having nothing else to do, he went downstairs.

"Where did she get that stuffed animal?" Tori asked himself, not remembering when she brought it home.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The phone rang later in the day. It was dark now and Sakura couldn't figure out what the Dark card represented. Madison had left and dinner was over. Kero was browsing through the ancient book. Sakura picked it up and Madison's voice spoke.

"Sakura you should come over here. That noise I heard at your place is here now." She said. Sakura didn't hear any noises in her kitchen while eating dinner. So, she scooped Kero and the book he was reading into a bag.

"Call Li and Shuai." Sakura said to Madison. "I'll be over."

Sakura walked down the road. The darkness began to creep her out. "It's nothing Sakura." Kero spoke to her.

In the distance She saw Kuragari. He shot his head her way. Sakura began to pull the key from her neck.

"You're the cause of what's happened." Kuragari said to her.

"What do you mean?" Sakura said.

"The place I was staying burned to the ground, under mysterious circumstances…." Kuragari responded. "You're with them. I can feel it." He began to approach her. Sakura tried to back away but Kuragari sped up. "Contain the spirits. Close the circle." He said to her. Sakura backed up into a tree. He pulled something out of his pocket. Sakura grabbed the key from her neck. "The cards won't help you now." He said, slapping her hand. The key fell to the ground. He brought his hand to her face. It contained an amulet. "Close the circle!" He ordered. Sakura felt pain in her head. No ordinary amulet should make her feel pain.

"Stop it." Sakura cried futilely. Tears ran from eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about. What circle?" Sakura dropped the bag she held.

"You have control." Kuragari spoke again. Sakura felt like her face was on fire. Kero emerged from the bag. He bit Kuragari's finger.

"Ouch!" Kuragari said, unleashing the amulet. The pain Sakura felt decreased, but a headache remained. He swatted down Kero and took a glance at the bag. He felt power from it and picked it up. From inside he took out the book.

"Kero, he's got the book!" Sakura called.

"I was right. You have tried the spell." Kuragari assumed.

"What spell?" Sakura asked.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Kuragari said, flipping through the pages. Kero snick behind him. "Recite this." Kuragari ordered. It was titled "Closing the Circle". On the next page, she saw something that might be used to defeat Kuragari.

"Spirits that wander the echoes of the void

Hear my call" Sakura recited.

"Not that!" Kuragari said as lightning roared through the sky. From thin air, transparent gasses emerged and formed beings. They attacked Kuragari, cutting his clothing and skin. "So you are with the evil." Kuragari spoke painfully, drawing a clow card. Kero stood by, watching. "Darkness card! Release and dispel." Kuragari ordered. A purple gas rose from the card. It seemed to be fighting back against the three formed beings. It tackled one down and it dissipated into gas. The second stalled the Darkness card while the third still attacked Kuragari. Sakura couldn't stand what was happening, it all seemed too violent. The Darkness card wrapped itself around the second being and it exploded into dust that was disintegrated before it hit the ground.

"Kero!" Sakura called to behind Kuragari, who was trying to fend the third being with his sword. "How do I stop this?" The Darkness card went after the third being. Both were fearless and aggressive, not ready to tolerate defeat. More beings emerged from the air, over powering the darkness card. Kuragari called it back and activated the Transport card. Kuragari disappeared and the spirits left too. Sakura was shaking. How could she have unleashed such evil on someone, even if they were an enemy?

"I didn't mean too." Sakura said in defense. "I didn't know."

"Sakura, did you ever activate the beings with some spell?" Kero asked.

"I don't think so." Sakura said crying. "Kuragari said I had though." Kero sat on Sakura's shoulder the rest of the walk, trying to comfort her. 

"When was the last time you listened to Kuragari?" Kero said. 

"Why are you crying Sakura," came a voice from around the corner. Ms. Mackenzie came from around and looked at her. Kero already stiffened into his pose.

"This boy, he attacked me and…" Sakura said, trying to think of a story.

"It's alright, not everything people say is true and you have to look past it to find your goal." She said. Then she eyed Kero. ""Where did you get that?" She said pointing to Kero.

"This?" Sakura said nervously. "It's just a stuffed animal. I get lonely on these long walks." Ms. Mackenzie eyed him. "Everyone must love him, they all stare at him." Sakura continued with a smile. Ms. Mackenzie looked up.

"Good day." Ms. Mackenzie said to her and walked away. Five minutes later, Madison's house was in sight. At Madison's house, Li and Shuai were already there. Madison's mother wasn't home and Madison had dismissed the bodyguards. Li and Shuai had looked over the entire area.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Madison asked.

"It's nothing." Sakura responded. Madison could see she was lying.

"We heard the humming but it stopped about ten minutes ago." Li told her. Kero and Sakura looked at each other.

"That's because they were with us." Kero told them. Li and Shuai didn't quite understand. Why did Kero say "They"?

"The humming is coming from these beings, that attack people." Kero said.

"So you think they'll attack me, why?" Madison said, horrified.

"It attacks someone who threatens Sakura." Kero observed. "So, when you were in the kitchen, it may have saw you as a trespasser."

"Well then we have to stop it." Shuai spoke up. "Did Kuragari try a clow card against them?

"He used the Darkness." Sakura responded. "It didn't help too much." The humming came back.

"We have to start." Kero said to them. "Do you have any candles?"

"They are in the kitchen." Madison said, heading that way. They followed the diagram in the book on the candle positions and everything was set.

"Were too late." Sakura said worryingly.

"I feel a presence." Li told them.

"Me too." Added Kero nervously. "Sakura begin!"

"Close the circle that lays before me

The show of power you shall see…." Sakura was cut off. The beings became visible. Five all together. They swooped down engaging Li and Shuai in battle. They launched lightning at them, trying to protect Madison and Sakura. One disappeared after numerous hits but the other four were breaking up their concentration.

"Sakura, you have to continue." Kero encouraged. She watched Li and Shuai. The lightning wasn't helping much.

"Illusion card." Sakura ordered. "Create false targets!" The beings however, could sense which was the real thing and kept attacking. "Thunder card! Release!" Sakura changed.

"Storm!" Li followed. The tornado though wasn't holding the beings. Storm fell to its card form. Thunder was also getting beaten. Li and Shuai were getting tired. The beings had been getting through their attacks. One more disappeared to dust. Ten more however appeared from the air. They were over running Li and Shuai.

"Wrap card!" Shuai tried. Vines were wrapped around the beings but each managed to escape and continue attacking.

"Shadow card! Contain the beings!" Sakura ordered. Shadow unleashed and started confining the beings into a ball. They began to escape slowly. Sakura was thinking about the fortune. "The Dark card… Dark, like space, a void." Sakura said to herself. "That's it, they want nothing!" Sakura said, figuring it out. "They want nothing, how does that help?"

"Sakura, the only way to stop them is to continue the spell!" Kero called to her. The Shadow card was weakening and the beings were escaping easier. Clow magic isn't working, you've got to hurry!" The Shadow card broke.

"Close the circle that lays before me

The show of power you shall see

Combining my forces, listen to me

Spirits of the void I close the circle on thee

Close the circle!"

The beings charged them. Cuts lined their clothing, blood running from them. Li and Shuai fell to the ground. Kero pushed Madison out of the room, followed by the beings that were spread out everywhere. Candles fell over, furniture was being broken. Sakura saw one headed at her. She could feel its anger. Sakura took a defensive pose, ducking and covering her face. Waiting for the strike Sakura sat there, afraid. She felt someone poke her. Peering up, she saw Kero.

"It's alright kid." He said.

"What about Li? Sakura asked, seeing Madison checking Li and Shuai.

"They'll be ok." Madison said, going to the kitchen to retrieve a rag and bowl.

"You did it." Kero spoke to Sakura. "The circle is closed."

Author's note: I rushed to get this done, it's kind of my Friday the 13th story. You've probably been trying to think about what television show this came from. Most of you won't be able too because it's off the air now. (Well I don't have cable so I don't know about that) Basically, everything that Madison, Kuragari, Ms. Mackenzie, Kero, or Shuai did never happened. The only characters would have been Li and Sakura. Sakura would have gone to the bookstore alone, there was no attack on Sakura, etc. The "beings" would have attacked a repairman at Sakura's house, not Madison's. Most of the episodes I saw were pretty much along the line of suspense and thrill. Although most reached a part where they got ugly. I tried to leave that part out. The show, as most of you probably want to know was called Baywatch Nights.


	8. The One and Only

The One and Only ****

The One and Only

"Good morning! Settle down now!" Called Mr. Terada.

"He says the same thing everyday." Shuai pointed out.

"I could memorize the morning and replay everything." Li added. Mr. Terada was in front of the black board. At that moment, a tennis ball was thrown against the blackboard. It bounced back and hit Mr. Terada in the lower back of his head.

"Ouf!" He blurted. "Come here you little squirt." He said, pointing at the kid.

"There's something that doesn't normally happen." Madison said, pointing the incident out to Shuai and Li.

"Are you laughing at me?" He pointed in Madison's direction. "You want detention too?'

"No sir." Madison said nervously.

"Now calm down!" Mr. Terada called out angrily, rubbing the red spot. "Someone you've all been looking forward to seeing has returned." The class calmed.

"I bet Ms. Mackenzie's back!" Sakura said cheerfully. Ms. Mackenzie walked through the doorway.

"Hello everyone!" Ms. Mackenzie called to the class. "How is everybody?"

"I saw that woman in China!" Shuai said to them.

"What was she doing?" Li asked suspiciously. Sakura listened.

"She was talking with the elders." Shuai told them.

"I knew she isn't who she says she is." Li said confidently.

"But if she was talking with the elders, that means she's good, right?"

"Not necessarily." Li said in a soft, unconvincing tone. "Kuragari talked with the elders."

"As I told you all, I was in China. Visiting relatives who were wondering how I was doing and stuff like that."

"I'll bet." Li said under his breath, sarcastically. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"How annoying." Kuragari said to himself. "It would be a lot easier if they thought I was a good person." Just than he got an idea "It would be a lot easier." Jumping down from the tree he was sitting in, he noticed a black-haired girl walking on the pathway. She was wearing a red-violet shirt with black pants and a yellow belt that the shirt was tucked through. This twelve-year-old girl turned to look at him. "Everyone's supposed to be at the school." Kuragari thought to himself. He noticed she had brown eyes and an innocent look opon her face, making her seem weak. "What are you doing out of school?" He called to her.

"I just got here, are you Li?" She responded.

"So you're looking for Li." Kuragari continued to think. "No one who's looking for Li is _ordinary_". "Well, you can't see him right now." He said with a snicker. "You're coming with me."

"What do you mean?" She said confidently. Her voice didn't sound as weak as she looked.

"Teleport Card!" Kuragari announced. The girl raised her right hand to her face and focused on her pointer and middle fingers, which were not clutched. She then raised her face and looked at the teleport spirit. Her eyes glowed a frightening red and her face had a hypnotic look. The Teleport spirit froze in mid air. It was then thrown against a near by tree. Kuragari saw this girl had power. He couldn't let it fall into Sakura's hands.

"Construct Card! Trap the girl in an underground labyrinth!" Kuragari spoke. The girl turned her focus on Kuragari. Her whole body began to glow the red color. But the Construct card had her caught. She disappeared from sight, into the maze created by the construct card. "I'll get back to her later." He said walking away. "Now where was I… O yes, if I was good, I'd have better luck…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, what were Ms. Mackenzie and the elders talking about?" Li interrogated Shuai.

"I don't really care." Sakura broke in cheerfully. "She's back, and I'm sure that she's a good person. With a gentle face like hers and wonderful feeling emanating from her soul, could she really be evil?"

"Yes." Li and Shuai said in unison.

"You haven't listened to any of my warnings about her, have you?" Li said turning his focus toward her.

"What do you think?" Sakura responded with a smile. Li buried his face in his hands. 

"What did I miss?" Madison asked, coming around the corner of a bush. "Mr. Terada says we have five minutes left out here."

"Just a interrogation attempt getting no where." Li said looking up.

"I have no clue what she was doing there? I didn't even want this assignment," Shuai said to him.

"Well, now that you're helping us recapture the cards…" Sakura was cut off.

"My mission isn't to capture the Clow cards. It's to bring back Kuragari." Shuai interrupted, not wanting anymore work.

"There virtually the same thing." Madison pointed out. "You need to recapture almost all of the cards before you can trap and take back Kuragari."

"So I'm caught in the mess you've made." Shuai muttered to himself.

"Hey!" Sakura stood up. "This is no mess. I've actually enjoyed the past year. Well, not every event, but most of them." Sakura said shocked at Shuai. "I mean, this "mess" has gotten me to know more people." Sakura said looking at Li. "And brought me to new places."

"And has allowed me to explore my creativity." Madison said speaking up. Sakura fell over. "Well Kero likes most of my ideas." Madison joked more. Shuai looked up at the sky. "What have the elders gotten me into?" he asked. Sakura looked up just then, "I feel something…" She said.

"Maybe Kuragari's new cards broke their seals." Li said standing up, looking around, and anticipating the event.

"No," Sakura said unsurely, "that's not it. Something else." The bell than rang and break was over. Everyone headed in. Rain started to come down. Inside the classroom, Sakura took her seat and gazed out the window. Ms. Mackenzie walked to her.

"I hope those flowers you were watching aren't ruined." She said to Sakura. Sakura looked at her strangely.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"You were looking at the flower bed. The late bloomers were looking gorgeous." Ms. Mackenzie replied, smiled, than walked to the front. Everyone else was settling in, but the rain was distracting them. Sakura thought for a moment. She wasn't at the flowerbed. Was Ms. Mackenzie trying to tell her something?

"Yes, rain can be fun to watch but we've got to get this done." Ms. Mackenzie said. She was having a difficult time getting everyone to pay attention.

"I'm so poor I can't pay attention." A boy blurted out.

"Than we'll have a charity drive for you." Ms. Mackenzie said looking at him. "Why can't you all be like Li and Shuai?" She asked desperate to get attention. "Sakura, I'm over here." Ms Mackenzie waved. Sakura looked to the front.

"Sorry," Sakura said with a smile.

"It would be a lot easier if I could control the rain right now." Ms. Mackenzie said, going to the window. "Wouldn't you agree Sakura?"

"What?!" Sakura questioned.

"If you could control the rain?" She repeated.

"Yes," Sakura said, checking the Rain card in her pocket. "Could she sense it?" Sakura asked herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I'm telling you Kero," Sakura paced on her bedroom floor. "She was trying to tell me something." Kero watched her.

"Stranger things have happened." Kero said innocently. Sakura starred at him.

"I'm beginning to think that somehow, she knows about the Clow Cards." Sakura said worriedly.

"Well, Yue was supposed to show up a while back. Things she's not supposed to know yet just might come out." Kero said to himself.

"What was that?" Sakura asked, not hearing him.

"Ahhh, what did she say?" Kero made up.

"She said it would be good if I could control the rain, then asked my opinion, as if I had done it before."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura's alarm rung as the sun began to pearce it's way through her window. Sakura went to swat the annoying buzzer. Unfortunately, Kero was sleeping in its place. He had moved the clock to the desk. The smack from Sakura's hand sent Kero flying across to the opposite wall. With the buzzing still going on, Sakura woke up. Kero was piecing together what just happened, while lying on the floor. "I remember I had better awakenings when I slept in the book." Kero remarked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Good morning Rita!" Sakura said, reaching the floor her homeroom was on.

"Good morning again Sakura." She replied.

"Again?" Sakura said with a puzzled look.

"Yah, remember you told me good morning before you went into the classroom." Rita responded.

"I just got here." Sakura told Rita.

"It must be this headache I have. I was up all last night with… never mind." Rita trailed off, walking away. Sakura walked into the classroom.

"Where's Madison?" Sakura asked Li.

"She went to the bathroom with you two minutes ago." Li replied with a surprised look on his face.

"You two didn't lose each other, did you?" Shuai joked.

"I just got here." Sakura said leaving the class into the hallway.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So I'll call to you after dinner." Madison said to Sakura. Sakura looked up.

"I have to go check on something in my locker. Meet me in class." Sakura told her as she left the bathroom. Madison finished washing her hands and was drying them when Sakura ran through the doorway.

"Wow your fast. You just left here a minute ago." Madison said to her. "Ok, we can head to class." Madison finished as Sakura caught her breath.

"I haven't been here today." Sakura managed to get out.

"Sakura, I'm not falling for that. It's not your birthday today." Madison joked. Sakura remembered her birthday was on April 1st. Sakura began to regret the April fool's jokes. Sakura thought as they both walked to homeroom. "Four people saw me, Rita, Li, Shuai and Madison. Only, I was never there. The Mirror card was fully under my possession. It must be Kuragari's doing, but without the Mirror card, how did he do it?

"So what do you think Li's going to say to you?" Madison asked.

"When?" Sakura asked.

"After school, he told you he wanted to talk to you." Madison replied with a worried look. You'll tell me when I call, right?" Sakura nodded as they entered the classroom. Sakura suddenly felt a sense of endangerment. She looked behind her all day, as if waiting for something to strike. She hated the feeling and tried to stay with Madison or Li as much as possible. After what seemed like a month, the dismissal bell rang.

"Shuai" Sakura turned to him. "Do you think you could walk me home. I'd ask Madison, but she has to be with her mom and I'm meeting Li in the park and…" Sakura trailed. Shuai saw Li give him a sharp stare.

"Not after what we put Li through." Shaui spoke quickly, gathering his things and running out. Sakura turned to Li. "What did he mean by that?" Sakura asked.

"Nothing." Li said with a regretting look on his face.

"Well, I guess you get to walk me home." She said with a smile. Li's eyes popped open fully. "We can talk on the way." She said, a little desperate. The feeling she had was stronger than before.

"Well, I'm kind of busy right now and," Li said, searching for an excuse.

"Oh, come on." Sakura said, trying to laugh, grabbing his arm and running off with him. Li was able to grab the rest of his things in time. This wasn't the response he expected form her.

"Is there some reason you want me to walk you home?" Li asked.

"Well," Sakura stalled, not knowing how to explain. "I'm scared."

"You're scared?" Li questioned with a sarcastic look.

"Well, it's this feeling. It's like I feel that I'm going to be attacked. And when you said you saw me with Madison. I wasn't at the school that early. And Madison said she was talking to me in the bathroom, I was never there…" Sakura rambled. Li eyed her.

"Well, here's your house." He spoke up. "I'll see you tonight, right?"

"Yah." Sakura responded slowly, walking into the house. Shutting the door she turned around and saw a big yellow object in front of her. "AHHHHHHH! KERO HELP!"

"I'm right here?" the voice of the yellow object said. Walking backward, her eyes refocused themselves and she found that it was Kero.

"Don't ever do that again!" Sakura yelled at him.

"A little crabby I see." He said. "I guess a snack is out o the question." He added to himself.

"I'm sorry Kero," Sakura said to him. "It's just I have this weird feeling that something bad is going to happen." The phone rang and Sakura jumped.

"You are jumpy." He added. Sakura went and picked it up.

"Hello?" Sakura began

"Hi, are you alright? Li told me what you said to him. What do you mean, I wasn't talking to you in the bathroom?"

"Umm… I'm not sure actually." Sakura responded.

"You should get some rest. Bye." Madison said, hanging up. Kero flue to her.

"Stay be me." She said grabbing him.

"Sakura, I do need oxygen!" Kero said trying to brake her hold. Sakura heard a creek from the basement. She grabbed the key from her neck and summoned the wand. "Sakura, it's just one of those random noises. I hear them all the time. One's about to go off, now." He said. Just than she heard another creek from the upstairs.

"So you know all of the noises that go on here?" Sakura asked.

"Yah, I've been here so long."

"We've got to find you a life." Sakura joked. Than a tap occurred.

"There's not supposed to be a tap now." Kero blurted. Sakura looked at him. "Oops." He added.

"Were getting out of here." Sakura told him.

"Where are going to go?" Kero asked.

"I don't know, Li's house." Sakura said quickly.

"You want to go to the kid's house. You must be terrified." Kero said as Sakura pushed him out the door. Sakura swiftly snapped on her rollorblades and coasted down the road. Kero popped up onto her shoulder.

"Do you think your going a little fast?" Kero said, not wanting to be hurt.

"It's really not that fast." Sakura responded. Suddenly the Sleep card appeared in front of her. Sakura skidded to a stop, falling over. Kero tried to fly up but was put to sleep.

"Sakura" a voice said from the bushes.

"Who are you?" Sakura responded, pulling out her key.

"Don't you recognize me?" the voice said, coming out of the bushes. It was her.

"This isn't possible!" Sakura said.

"Yet it is." The other Sakura responded, summoning her staff. They both summoned their Sword cards. Battling each other was short for one Sakura quickly won.

"Who are _you_?" One Sakura asked the other Sakura.

"You're not Sakura, I am" Sakura said. The sword was pointed at her.

"Earth! Form a cave to trap her!" The Sakura who won the sword match ordered, hitting the Earth card. The other Sakura ran before the Earth card could catch her. The Sakura, who stayed behind, went to wake up Kero. She shook him and he broke from his slumber.

"What happened?" Kero asked.

"The other Sakura, I saw her. I tried to trap her in a cave but she ran off." Sakura told him. "Come on, we've got to get to Li."

"Are you ok?" Kero asked.

"Yah, I'm just tired.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Li paced back and forth over the ground. "How am I going to tell her? What would I even say?" he asked himself. "I should have never let Madison and Shuai talk me into this." Sakura walked up and Kero flue off into the sky. She didn't know why Kero did though. He met Madison in the bush. She was taping.

"What's going on?" Kero whispered.

"I think he's having second thoughts." Madison replied.

"You know Sakura," Li began. "We've known each other for a while now." Sakura nodded. "And…" suddenly there was no sound. Kero and Madison looked at each other. Madison attempted to say something. No sound came. Sakura and Li looked around.

"What happened?" Sakura was finally able to say.

"It's the Silent card!" Kero said, jumping out from the bush. He pointed to a tree beside them. Sakura and Li looked at the tree. It had a carving like the Silent card. The carving began to glow and Kero and Madison were transported away from the area. Sakura and Li approached the card.

"Silent card." Sakura whispered. "Return to your power confined." The carving began to glow but was too late. It disappeared from the tree and molded itself into a card. The card went to Sakura.

"So you were going to tell me something?" Sakura turned to Li.

"It's really just something I was doing for Madison." Li said, searching for something else to say. "She really owes me now…."

"Alrighty then." Sakura said, leaving.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura arriving home smelt dinner on the stove. Tori was making dinner tonight.

"Hey there, squirt." He said to her. "Dinner should be ready in about an hour."

"Alright." Sakura responded. Tori starred at her. He felt as if something was off.

"Is they're anything else?" Sakura asked.

"Just that the neighbors called saying they could feel the ground shake when you walked by." Tori joked it off. Sakura just walked on. Now he knew something was off. She didn't even try to make a comeback. Up in her room, Sakura looked all over her room for something. She almost had the place torn apart. Kero flew in the open window.

"Forget me!" He joked upon entry. Sakura jumped.

"Stupid guardian." Sakura spoke to herself.

"What was that?" Kero responded, not hearing her.

"I was looking for you." Sakura said getting up. Kero looked at her funny.

"Dinner!" Tori cried up the stairway.

"Bring me back something!" Kero perked up, licking his chops.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, Friday had come. Everyone had gone almost crazy. Sakura walked in. She seemed shyer today.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Madison asked.

"Nothing wrong." Sakura said nervously. Li starred at her, trying to make eye contact. Sakura looked down or every which way to avoid him. Madison watched this show.

"Your not Sakura, are you?" Li told her. Madison looked at Li. Shuai walked in at that moment.

"Sakura, I just spoke with you outside with Rita and Nikki." Shuai said surprised to see her.

"That's because this isn't Sakura." Li told him. Shuai eyed Sakura like Li had done.

"Looks like your right." Shuai congratulated Li. "Than who is she?"

"The Mirror card." Li responded.

"Why would Sakura send the Mirror card up here in her place?" Madison asked.

"Sakura thought she was in danger of something yesterday." Li said.

"Why did Sakura send you?" Madison asked the Mirror card.

"There's someone after her, they've trick you, all of you." The card responded shyly.

"But Sakura's outside then?" Shuai checked.

"No she isn't." the card responded. "She was in the woods the last I saw her."

Li looked out the window. Sakura walked through the doorway. "She or whoever is coming in." Li told them.

"You'd better leave." Madison cautioned. The Mirror card pointed to the doorway. Everyone started screaming. These balls of light were appearing through out the hallway.

"It must be a Clow card." Shuai said.

"The Glow if I'm not mistaken." Li told them. 

"It would have liked all this fun." Madison said. Sakura came through the doorway. Li, Madison and Shuai stood up, hiding the Mirror card behind them. The last couple people ran out of the classroom. "It's the Glow card." Sakura told them.

"Then seal it." Shaui told her. Sakura pulled out her key and released it.

"Glow card! Return to your power confined!" The spots of light collected into the card and the card went to Sakura.

"Can I see that card." Li said walking up to Sakura.

"Is there something wrong?" Sakura asked Li, still holding the card.

"There is." Li said pointed to the Mirror card. Madison and Shuai revealed her.

"How did it break its seal?" Sakura asked them.

"You shouldn't believe…" The Mirror card started, but was cut off.

"Mirror card! Return to your power confined!" Sakura ordered.

"The Mirror card floated from Sakura's desk, into its card form. But the unexpected happened. It floated out of an open window, and off school property. Forgetting about getting the Glow card from this Sakura, they all ran out of the school, after the card.

Author's notes: Yes I'm stopping it here! It's already confusing enough. This is the first chapter I've started from scratch since I began. Every other chapter I began before ending the previous one. This one and most after this one will be different. The next chapter was supposed to be set out after "The Lost Cards". I've pushed it back to here because I didn't have an idea for it. Remember that chapter I promised you in the first chapter. I'm in the middle of it now, but it keeps getting pushed back in the timeline. Could someone tell me besides the Time and Wood, what other cards are under Yue's protection?


End file.
